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THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

A  MANUAL  FOR  THE  PANTRY 
KITCHEN,  AND  DINING-ROOM 


BY 

ANNE   FRANCES  SPRINGSTEED    ,^«^<^ 

(MRS.  THOMAS  COLE) 


REVISED   EDITION 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS   PUBLISHERS 

M  C  M  X  I 


«\ 


A 


\\ 


COPYRIGHT.  1894.   1911.  BY   HARPER  ft   BROTHERS 


CONTENTS 

Introduction v 

Breakfast ,    o    .      1 

Luncheon 14 

Dinner 22 

Supper 32 

Afternoon  Tea 39 

Picnic  and  Travelling  Luncheons     ....    42 

Care  of  Dining-Room 44 

Care  of  Pantry 49 

Washing  Dishes 53 

Care  of  Silver,  Etc 59 

Lamps 61 

Carving 65 

Care  of  Carvers 72 

General  Rules 73 

Miscellaneous  Instructions 77 

Useful  Suggestions 92 

In  the  Invalid's  Room 99 

Truthfulness  in  the  Waitress       106 

Adaptability 114 

A  Servant's  Contract 122 

Notes 133 


238891 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION 

THIS  book  was  not  written  as  a  compendium 
of  all  the  rules  necessary  for  conventional 
service  in  houses  where  many  servants  are  em- 
ployed, but  because  the  author  felt  that  a  sim- 
ple manual  for  the  pantry  would  be  of  help  to 
the  waitress  as  a  cook-book  is  to  the  cook,  and 
in  the  belief  that  it  would  increase  the  comfort 
of  those  mistresses  who  employ  only  one  or  two 
maids. 

The  sale  of  the  book  has  been  much  greater 
than  was  anticipated,  and  naturally  criticisms 
and  suggestions  have  come  to  author  and  to 
publisher.  Some  of  these  have  been  made 
without  any  true  understanding  of  the  modest 
aim  of  the  author;  but,  taken  all  in  all,  they 
go  to  prove  that  the  work  has  a  wider  field  than 
was  foreseen,  and  can  be  made  helpful  to  more 
persons,  whether  they  be  mistresses  or  maids, 
if  there  be  added  some  rules  of  service  which 
are  more  in  accordance  with  usages  at  present 
accepted  in  the  majority  of  households.  The 
most  practical  way  of  so  improving  the  manual 
seems  to  be  by  embodying  the  new  suggestions 
in  an  introduction,  allowing  the  older  rules  to 


vi         INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION 

stand  as  they  are,  to  be  followed  or  laid  aside 
as  one  may  choose. 

Much  may  be  left  to  individual  preference 
and  convenience  without  fear  of  offending 
against  good  taste,  and  the  exercise  by  hostess 
and  guest  of  a  little  thoughtfulness  and  com- 
mon sense  will  preserve  them  from  expecting 
from  one  waitress,  however  "expert''  and  will- 
ing, the  service  which  only  two  can  successfully 
render. 

Fewer  hosts  now  carve  at  their  own  tables 
than  did  so  sixteen  years  ago.  Either  the  cook 
carves  or  the  waitress  herself  does  so  at  the 
side-table  or  in  the  pantry,  and  often  she  serves 
the  fish  and  roast  as  well  as  entree,  game,  and 
salad  by  passing  them  either  by  placing  a 
single  portion  in  front  of  each  guest,  or  offer- 
ing a  platter  from  which  he  helps  himself.  The 
dish  then  is  more  often  put  upon  the  side-table 
than  on  the  dining-table. 

When  the  host  or  hostess  does  carve,  a  pile 
of  hot  plates  is  not  put  at  the  head  of  the  table, 
as  of  old,  but  is  left  on  the  side-table,  only  one 
being  in  front  of  the  carver.  The  waitress  takes 
her  place  at  his  left,  another  hot  plate  in  hand, 
and  when  he  has  served  a  portion  she  takes  this 
plate,  putting  down  the  other,  carries  the  por- 
tion to  the  person  to  be  served,  returning  each 
time  to  the  carver  with  a  hot  plate  from  the 
side-table. 

As  to  who  shall  first  be  served  there  seems 
to  be  no  absolute  rule. 

In  some  households  it  is  always  the  guest  of 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION        vii 

honor  if  a  woman.  At  a  ladies'  luncheon  she 
sits  at  the  right  of  her  hostess;  at  a  dinner,  at 
the  right  of  her  host. 

If  a  man,  he  takes  the  right  of  his  hostess, 
but  should  not  be  served  before  a  lady.  In 
some  houses  all  the  ladies  are  served  before  any 
of  the  men;  in  some  the  lady  at  the  host's  right 
is  served,  and  then  the  next  guest,  whether 
man  or  woman,  and  so  on  around  the  table  to 
the  host.  To  avoid  leaving  the  same  person 
always  to  be  served  last,  one  course  may  be 
passed  first  to  the  guest  on  the  right  of  the 
host,  the  next  to  the  one  on  the  right  of  the 
hostess,  a  third  to  some  other  lady,  and  so  on 
through  the  dinner.  In  still  other  houses  the 
hostess  is  always  first  served.  The  reasons  for 
this  custom  are  given  in  the  body  of  this  manual. 
They  have  force,  and  many  well-bred  hostesses 
are  influenced  by  them,  but  the  rule  is  not 
always  looked  upon  with  favor.  It  is  taken 
for  granted  that  any  one  asked  to  dine  at  an- 
other's house,  and  especially  if  seated  in  the 
place  of  honor,  will  be  acquainted  with  the 
usages  common  among  people  of  breeding,  and 
while  it  is  true  that  customs  in  our  various 
States  differ  somewhat,  real  discomfort  rarely 
falls  upon  a  guest  if  the  waitress  understands 
her  business.  A  careless  waitress,  however,  has 
been  known  to  pass  a  dish  to  the  guest  of  honor 
and  all  around  the  table,  each  guest  in  turn  de- 
clining it,  leaving  the  hostess  to  discover  that 
no  spoon  was  on  the  platter.  Had  the  hostess 
been  first  served  this  impleasantness  would  have 


viii       INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED   EDITION 

been  avoided.  But  a  waitress  should  be  quick- 
witted and  observant;  she  should  have  seen 
why  the  food  was  declined. 

Service  trays  are  much  less  used  than  in  the 
years  gone  by,  although  many  hostesses  still 
require  them.  The  trained  waitress  now  usual- 
ly carries  on  her  left  hand  a  large  napkin  folded 
about  six  inches  square;  on  this  she  rests  hot 
dish  or  platter.  It  is,  however,  perfectly  good 
form  to  use  a  tray. 

An  oblong  tray,  such  as  the  Russians  make 
in  so  many  attractive  designs,  with  or  without 
little  handles  at  the  sides,  is  very  convenient 
to  serve  two  or  even  three  vegetables  at  one 
time,  and  at  another  all  the  hors  d^oeuvre, 
celery,  salted  nuts,  olives,  or  what  not,  and  at 
still  another  the  dishes  of  bonbons. 

This  method  insures  prompt  service  of  every- 
thing belonging  to  one  course  while  that  course 
is  hot,  and  affords  better  opportunity  for  a 
guest  to  make  a  choice  among  the  vegetables 
and  relishes  served  than  he  could  otherwise  do 
without  a  menu  card.  Small  trays  are  used 
for  the  offering  of  sauces,  jellies,  and  the  like. 

Some  hostesses  choose  to  have  the  waitress 
carry  each  soup-plate  on  a  tray  and  put  it  on 
the  service  plate,  but  if  the  maid  has  to  take 
up  one  plate  as  she  puts  down  another  the  use 
of  a  tray  encumbers  her. 

Soup  tureens  are  now  rarely  seen  upon  the 
table.  The  waitress  serves  the  soup  already 
dished  by  herself  or  the  cook,  bringing  one 
plate  at  a  time  and  putting  it  on  the  service 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION        ix 

plate.  If  the  saving  of  time  is  important,  a 
waitress  may  be  allowed  to  bring  two  plates  of 
soup  at  a  time,  though  this  method  lacks 
elegance. 

She  may  remove  one  in  either  hand  if  the 
service  plate  remain,  but  she  must  bring  one 
at  a  time  the  hot  plates  for  fish,  entree,  or  roast, 
placing  the  fresh  plate  with  her  right  hand, 
and  with  the  left  removing  the  soiled  one  by 
drawing  it  under  the  other,  thus  partly  hiding 
that  which  is  less  agreeable  to  look  upon. 
'-  Service  plates  are  now  commonly  used  not 
only  at  dinner  and  luncheon,  but  at  breakfast 
where  fruit  is  not  first  served,  and  even  under 
the  fruit  plate. 

They  are  sometimes  removed  when  the  entree 
or  roast  is  brought,  but  are  often  left  until  the 
salad  course. 

They  may  be  of  the  same  china  as  that  used 
for  the  rest  of  the  meal,  but  are  often  very  rare 
and  costly.  In  this  case  their  centres  may  be 
protected  by  doilies  of  fine  linen,  lace,  or 
drawn-work,  on  which  other  plates  may  rest 
without  injury  and  without  noise.  Occasion- 
ally a  hostess  possesses  various  sets  of  service 
plates,  some  edged  with  gold,  others  with  red, 
green,  or  pink,  enabling  her  to  carry  out  various 
schemes  of  color  in  the  adornment  of  her  table, 
with  plates  matching  flowers,  candle  shades, 
and  embroideries. 

When  there  is  no  course  such  as  grape-fruit 
or  oysters  on  the  table  when  dinner  is  served, 
a  piece  of  bread  or  a  roll  is  folded  inside  the 


X         INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION 

napkin  and  put  on  the  service  plate — otherwise 
these  are  placed  at  the  left,  where  belongs  the 
bread-and-butter  plate  with  its  small  silver 
knife,  if  butter  is  served.  Most  people  do  not 
serve  it  at  dinner  unless  rye  or  whole-wheat 
bread  is  used. 

In  the  body  of  this  manual  the  rule  is  laid 

down  that  everything  which  is  to  be  served 

f  without  choice  of  the  guest  should  be  placed 

I  from  the  right,  and  those  which  are  to  be  ac- 

i  cepted  or  declined  by  the  guest,  from  the  left. 

\  It  is  r.t  present  customary  to  serve  altogether 

from  the  left,  though  authorities  disagree  as  to 

their  rules,   some   giving  those   above;    some 

directing  that  everything  be  alike  served  or 

placed  from  the  left  except  water,  wines,  or 

hot  drinks,  which  are  poured  or  placed  always 

at  the  right. 

'  If  two  maids  are  together  serving  the  same 
side  of  the  table,  one  may  remove  the  service 
pertaining  to  a  finished  course  from  the  left  of 
a  guest,  while  the  other  immediately  places 
from  the  right  the  plate  and  silver  for  the  course 
to  follow. 

Bread-and-butter  plates,  salad  plates,  small 
dishes  if  used  for  salted  nuts,  a  compote,  or  a 
vegetable  are  placed  at  the  left. 

Most  vegetables  are  taken  upon  the  plate, 
but  many  people  still  like  in  a  small  dish  those 
that  are  not  served  very  dry. 

If  the  host  or  hostess  dress  the  salad  at  the 
table,  the  plate  containing  the  ingredients  for 
the  dressing  should  be  placed  at  the  right,  the 


INTRODUCTION  TO  REVISED  EDITION         xi 

salad  bowl  with  the  salad  greens  in  front,  the 
spoon  and  fork  in  the  bowl,  or  the  fork  at  the 
right,  the  spoon  at  the  left. 

When  the  salad  is  dressed  the  plate  contain- 
ing oil  and  so  forth  should  be  at  once  removed, 
and  the  salad  passed  with  or  without  the  use 
of  a  tray;  but  it  is  a  comfortable  custom  to 
have  its  accompanying  cheese  and  crackers  fol- 
low on  a  tray  that  both  may  be  taken  at  once. 

If  only  cheese-straws  are  served,  or  if  a  fancy 
plate  or  basket  containing  separate  divisions 
for  cheese  and  hot  crackers  is  used,  a  tray  is 
not  necessary. 

If  the  hostess  serve  the  after-dinner  coffee  at 
the  table,  a  tray  containing  one  or  more  cups, 
a  small  bowl  of  sugar,  and  jug  of  cream  is  passed 
to  each  guest.  If  coffee  is  served  in  the  draw- 
ing-room the  hostess  may  pour  it  there,  or  the 
maid  may  bring  it  in  already  poured. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  good  authorities, 
whether  hostesses  or  writers  of  books  on  service, 
disagree  as  to  rules;  and  customs  change  from 
time  to  time;  but  all  really  good  service  de- 
mands that  the  waitress  possess  intelligence, 
that  she  be  quick  to  observe,  and  is  quiet,  neat, 
and  orderly. 

These  qualities  in  her  bring  peace  of  mind  to 
the  hostess  and  comfort  to  the  guest,  no  matter 
how  simple  the  meal  nor  how  plain  the  china; 
and,  by  the  exercise  of  these  qualities,  the 
waitress  maintains  her  self-respect,  finds  pleas- 
ure in  her  work,  and  daily  becomes  more  expert 
in  her  chosen  profession. 


aBteaftfast 

Oranges, 

Pearled  Oats  with  Cream, 

Lamh  Chops.  Creamed  Potatoes, 

Bread,  Hot  Muffins, 

Butter, 
Coffee,  Milk, 

Cream  or  Hot  Milk, 

The  breakfast  given  is  a  usual  one  in  many 
households.  Learn  to  serve  this  properly,  and 
it  will  be  easy  to  make  changes  where  ideas 
vary  as  to  comfort  and  convenience. 

To  serve  the  breakfast  given  there  will  be 
needed  :  Napkins,  tumblers,  salt  cups,  pepper 
boxes,  salt  spoons,  butter  plate  and  knife, 
bread-and-butter  plates,  bread  plate,  bread 
knife,  bread  board,  muffin  dish,  water  pitcher, 
milk  pitcher,  trays. 


*r]arfi 'EXPERT  waitress 


H 

g 

^ 

Fruit  dish. 

Finger  bowl. 

Doilies. 

Fruit  plates. 

Fruit  knives. 
Fruit  spoons. 

Covered  dish. 
Cream  jugs. 
Sugar  bowl. 

Cereal  drshes  on 
plates. 

Tablespoons. 
Dessertspoons. 

Platter. 

Tray  for  platter. 

Covered  dish. 

Breakfast  plates. 

Small  carver  and 

fork. 
Two  tablespoons. 
Breakfast  knives. 
Breakfast  forks. 

1 

Hot- water  kettle. 
Coffee   pot  and 
stand  and  small 
strainer. 

Hot-milk  pitcher 

(covered)  and  stand. 

Cream  jug. 

Sugar  bowl. 

Slop  bowl. 

CoflFee  cups 
and  saucers. 

Sugar  tongs. 
Teaspoons. 
Sugarspoons. 

The  dish  of  fruit  is  to  stand  in  the  centre  of 
the  table.  Place  a  salt  cup,  with  its  spoon, 
and  a  pepper  box  for  the  use  of  every  two 
people.  Put  for  each  person  a  fruit  plate,  on 
which  is  a  fruit  doily,  and  a  finger  bowl  one 
third  full  of  water.  On  the  plate  at  the  right 
of  the  bowl  lay  a  silver  fruit  knife,  on  the  left 
of  the  plate  a  fruit  spoon.  At  the  right  of 
each  plate  place  a  tumbler  for  water  and  an- 
other for  milk.  At  the  left  put  a  little  plate 
for  bread,  butter,  and  hot  muffins.     On  the 


BREAKFAST  3 

table,  at  the  right  of  the  plates,  lay  a  break- 
fast knife,  with  the  sharp  edge  of  the  blade 
turned  towards  the  plate,  a  silver  knife  for 
butter,  and  a  dessertspoon,  with  bowl  turned 
up.  At  the  left  lay  a  breakfast  fork,  with 
the  tines  turned  up,  and  a  napkin. 

If  the  polished  table,  without  a  cloth,  is 
preferred  for  breakfast,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
take  thought  about  hot  dishes,  none  of  which 
must  come  in  direct  contact  with  the  table. 
Either  they  must  be  served  from  a  side-table, 
or  the  polished  table  must  be  in  some  way 
protected.  Table  mats  have  been  discarded 
by  many  ladies  because  they  are  so  often 
merely  useful  without  being  ornamental. 

Among  the  handsomest  things  with  which 
to  replace  table  mats  are  hand-painted  trays, 
set  in  rims  of  split  bamboo.  The  rim  protects 
the  table,  and  prevents  the  platter  from  slid- 
ing. These  should  be  handled  with  great 
care,  on  account  of  their  value.  With  one  of 
these  trays  at  the  foot  of  the  table,  the  fruit 
in  the  centre,  and  the  coffee  service  at  the 


4  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

head,  all  has  a  finished  appearance  when  break- 
fast is  served. 

With  the  placing  of  the  coffee  service  at  the 
head  of  the  table  the  diflSculty  of  heat  again 
presents  itself,  and  this  time  cannot  be  obvi- 
ated by  the  side-table.  The  hot-water  kettle 
is  taken  care  of  by  its  own  lamp-stand ;  but 
the  coffee-pot  and  hot-milk  jug  still  remain. 
These  must  be  provided  for  according  to  their 
character.  If  of  silver,  they  should  rest  on 
silver  stands ;  if  of  china,  then  on  china  stands ; 
the  purpose  being  to  make  the  stand  appear 
like  a  part  of  that  which  rests  upon  it,  and  so 
be  as  unnoticeable  as  possible. 

The  expert  waitress  will  arrange  her  side- 
board and  side-table  with  as  much  care  as  she 
does  the  table  itself.  These  two  accessories 
should  hold  everything  that  may,  can,  or  shall 
be  needed.  The  sideboard  may  be  left  un- 
covered if  the  table  is  uncovered.  If  the 
table  is  draped,  a  suitable  cloth  must  be  laid 
on  the  sideboard.  A  side-table  should  always 
be  draped.     Use  this  for  hot  dishes  without 


BREAKFAST  5 

stands.  The  sideboard  should  hold  in  readi- 
ness extra  plates,  knives,  forks,  spoons,  tum- 
blers and  napkins,  fine  sugar  for  the  pearled 
oats,  a  pitcher  of  water,  and  a  pitcher  of 
milk. 

On  the  side-table  should  be  plenty  of  space 
for  whatever  hot  dishes  are  to  be  placed  upon 
it,  including  the  mufiin  dish,  a  silver  tray  for 
placing  and  removing  everything  that  is  not 
soiled  ;  another  tray,  either  of  silver  or  carved 
wood,  for  removing  that  which  is  soiled,  a 
small  napkin  for  taking  up  quickly  anything 
that  may  be  spilled,  and  a  large  napkin  or 
neat  towel  to  be  used  in  an  emergency,  such 
as  the  accidental  overturning  of  a  glass  of 
milk  or  a  cup  of  coffee. 

When  she  thinks  that  all  is  ready,  the  wait- 
ress should  ask  and  answer  every  one  of  these 
questions:  ^ 

Does  the  table  need  anything  more  ? 

Is  the  sideboard  perfectly  arranged  ? 

Is  there  plenty  of  room  on  the  side-table  ? 

Are  the  chairs  properly  placed  ? 


6  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

Are  the  morning  papers  where  they  should 
be? 

Are  any  doors  unnecessarily  open  ? 

Is  there  a  drawer  that  is  not  tightly  closed  ? 

Has  any  dust  been  overlooked  in  the  dining- 
room? 

Two  minutes  before  the  breakfast  hour  be- 
gin to  fill  the  glasses  with  water.  This  will 
be  finished  in  time,  and  the  water  will  be  cool 
and  fresh. 

As  to  the  time  of  placing  butter  upon  the 
table,  a  waitress  must  be  guided  by  her  judg- 
ment. In  winter,  when  butter  is  very  hard, 
it  may  be  put  on  sooner  than  in  summer,  when 
it  should  be  kept  cool  until  needed. 

Bread  must  be  always  freshly  cut. 

When  the  family  are  seated  at  the  table, 
place  the  fruit  dish  on  a  tray  and  hand  it  to 
the  lady  of  the  house,  standing  at  her  left  side. 
Oflfer  to  each  person,  always  at  the  left. 

When  the  fruit  has  been  served,  see  if  any 
one  has  emptied  his  glass  of  water.  Never, 
under  any  circumstances,  let  any  one  ask  for 


BREAKFAST  ^ 

a  glass  of  water.  Fill  it  before  he  can  ask. 
If  carafes  are  used,  and  each  one  fills  his  own 
glass,  after  it  has  been  once  emptied,  then  keep 
watch  of  ice,  and  offer  when  it  is  needed. 

When  the  fruit  course  is  finished,  remove 
everything  pertaining  to  it.  Take  first  the 
fruit  dish,  then,  in  each  hand,  a  plate  with  its 
finger-bowl,  knife,  and  spoon,  and  place  quiet- 
ly and  quickly  in  the  pantry  until  all  are  re- 
moved. If  a  knife,  only,  has  been  used,  do 
not  leave  the  fruit  spoon  because  it  is  clean, 
but  take  it  away  with  the  other  things.  If 
any  fruit  juice  has,  by  chance,  found  its  way 
to  the  polished  table,  take  it  up  so  deftly  with 
a  small  napkin  that  no  one  is  aware  of  it. 

When  the  fruit  is  removed,  bring  the  dish 
of  pearled  oats  and  place  on  the  tray  at  the 
foot  of  the  table.  Lay  a  tablespoon  at  the 
right  of  the  dish.  Place  before  each  person  a 
cereal  dish  on  a  plate.  Kemove  the  cover  of 
the  pearled  oats  to  the  side-table.  Place  the 
dish  on  the  tray,  put  the  spoon  in  the  dish, 
and  offer  first  to  the  lady  of  the  house,  stand- 


8  THE   EXPERT   WAITRESS 

ing  at  her  left.  Offer  to  each  person  from  the 
left.     Then  pass  the  sugar  and  creara. 

When  the  cereal  course  is  finished,  take  the 
cereal  dish,  with  its  tray,  and  place  it  on  the 
side -table.  Cover  the  dish.  Take  in  each 
hand  a  cereal  dish  and  plate,  until  all  are  re- 
moved to  the  pantry. 

For  the  meat  course  see  that  the  plates  are 
warm,  but  not  hot  enough  to  mar  the  polish 
of  the  table.  Where  a  cloth  is  used  they  may 
be  hotter.  Place  a  tray  for  the  hot  platter  at 
the  foot  of  the  table,  and  stand  the  platter  of 
chops  on  it.  Lay  a  small  carving-knife  and 
tablespoon  at  the  right  of  the  platter,  and  a 
small  carving-fork  at  its  left.  Place  a  pile  of 
warmed  plates  in  front  of  the  platter. 

When  a  chop  has  been  served,  take  the 
plate  in  the  right  hand,  place  it  on  the  tray, 
and  take  it  to  the  lady  of  the  house.  Serve, 
first,  all  on  one  side  of  the  table,  then  all  on 
the  other  side.  There  is  no  choice  in  this 
service,  for  the  carver  asks  each  one  if  he  may 
serve  them.     Go  to  the  right  of  the  person 


BREAKFAST  9 

served  and  place  the  plate,  instead  of  having 
it  taken  from  the  tray  at  the  left. 

Take  the  potato  dish  from  the  side -table, 
uncover  and  place  on  the  tray ;  put  a  table- 
spoon in  the  dish  and  pass.  Serve  each  per- 
son from  the  left. 

Place  a  platter  of  plain  bread  on  the  table, 
and  then  pass  the  hot  muffins.  If  any  one 
does  not  care  for  hot  bread  he  may  decline, 
because  he  knows  that  the  cold  bread  is  at 
hand. 

Pass  the  butter  and  the  bread. 

Watch  the  water  tumblers  and  fill  when 
empty.     Offer  milk. 

When  the  lady  of  the  house  begins  to  pour 
the  coffee,  take  a  cup  as  it  is  filled  and  move 
quickly  to  the  right  of  the  person  for  whom 
it  is  intended.  Set  the  cup  down.  There  is 
no  choice  about  this.  Each  cup  is  made  to 
suit  the  individual  taste  of  the  one  to  whom 
it  is  sent. 

When  the  coffee  is  served,  look  about  to  see 
what  may  be  needed  at  any  part  of  the  table. 


10  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

Do  not  oflEer  milk  to  one  whose  glass  is  still 
filled,  or  muffins  to  one  who  has  an  untouched 
muffin  on  his  plate.  Do  not  leave  the  break- 
fast-room until  quite  sure  that  everything 
that  there  is  to  do  has  been  finished. 

The  breakfast  described  is  served  to  a  fam- 
ily of  regular  people,  all  of  whom  sit  down  at 
the  same  time,  and  it  does  not  take  any  great 
amount  of  "mother  wit  **  to  serve  it  properly. 

What  really  tests  the  skill  of  a  waitress  is 
to  serve  a  breakfast  in  the  manner  necessary 
in  many  families. 

There  is  a  regular  breakfast  hour  at  which 
three  or  four  of  the  family  are  prompt ;  but 
one  of  the  gentlemen,  perhaps,  has  to  break- 
fast an  hour  earlier  in  order  to  get  to  business 
in  time,  while  others,  whose  studies  or  pleas- 
ures keep  them  late  at  night,  come  afterwards. 

To  make  every  one  comfortable  is  not  easy, 
but  it  is  quite  possible.  There  must  be  no 
hurry ;  that  is,  no  appearance  of  haste ;  but 
a  waitress  must  move  quickly  to  accomplish 
what  is  needed.     If  the  butler's  pantry  has  a 


BREAKFAST  11 

gas  stove,  her  task  will  be  much  simplified. 
The  mistress  of  a  household  who  breakfast  in 
this  manner  will  be  glad  to  furnish  her  pan- 
try with  every  convenience  necessary  for  the 
comfort  of  her  family^,  There  will  be  coffee- 
pots of  the  sizes  needed,  a  jar  of  freshly 
ground  coffee,  and  a  kettle  the  right  size  for 
the  gas  stove,  so  as  to  have  freshly  boiled  wa- 
ter whenever  it  is  needed.  A  waitress  who  is 
disposed  to  make  the  most  of  these  conven- 
iences can  save  both  herself  and  others  great 
annoyance. 

If  coffee  is  made  only  in  the  kitchen,  then 
the  side-table  will  have  the  proper  appliances 
for  keeping  coffee  and  milk  at  the  required 
temperature.  A  lamp  under  a  coffee  urn  soon 
destroys  the  flavor  of  fine  coffee,  but  a  lamp 
under  a  hot-water  tray  will  do  no  harm.  If 
this  tray  is  a  simple  flat  one,  it  will  be  of  lit- 
tle use.  It  must  be  one  with  rings  of  metal, 
one  or  more  of  which  may  be  removed  at  a 
time,  according  to  the  size  of  the  coffee-pot  or 
milk  jug  which  is  to  be  surrounded  by  the 


12  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

heat.  These  simple  trays  are  made  of  plan- 
ished tin.  In  the  hands  of  an  ignorant  maid 
they  are  utterly  useless.  In  careful  hands  they 
are  a  great  aid  and  comfort  in  the  breakfast- 
room. 

A  breakfast  served  in  thi^  way  gives  the 
following  rules : 

I — A  dining-room  must  be  in  perfect  order 
before  breakfast  is  served. 

II — A  waitress  is  responsible  for  the  heat 
of  the  dislies  after  they  come  from  the  kitch- 
en. If  too  hot,  she  must  cool  them ;  if  not 
hot  enough,  she  must  send  them  back. 

Ill — Coffee  and  hot  milk  must  be  kept  at 
the  right  temperature  to  preserve  their  best 
flavor. 

IV — Water  must  be  fresh  and  cool. 

V — Butter  must  not  be  served  so  soon  as  to 
become  soft  and  oily. 

VI — Bread  must  be  freshly  cut. 

VII — Glasses  must  be  kept  filled. 

VIII  —  Nothing  but  an  unexpected  extra 
should  ever  be  asked  for. 


BREAKFAST  13 

IX — Everything  must  he  passed  at  the  left, 
placed  at  the  right. 

X — In  clearing  the  table,  food  must  be  first 
removed;  then  soiled  china,  glass,  silver,  and 
cutlery ;  then  clean  china,  glass,  silver,  and  cut- 
lery ;  then  crumbs. 

XI — Everything  relating  to  one  course  must 
be  removed  before  serving  another  course. 


Xuncbeon 

Panned    Oysters, 

Beefsteak. 

Claret. 

Apollinaris. 

Spaghetti, 

French  Fried  Potatoes. 

Gherkins. 

Bread. 

Butter. 

Fruit  Tarts. 

Cocoa. 

Centre-piece  of  flowers,  ferns,  or  confer 
tions,  napkins,  tumblers,  claret  glasses,  bread- 
and-butter  plates,  butter  plate  and  knife,  bread 
plate,  board  and  knife,  salt  cups,  pepper  boxes, 
salt  spoons,  ice  pitcher,  trays. 

A  dining-room,  aired  for  a  few  minutes 
after  breakfast,  will  be  fresh  for  luncheon; 
but  the  thermometer  should  be  consulted  to 
see  whether  the  mercury  is  too  high  or  too  low. 


LUNCHEON 


15 


1 
o 

Cracker  plate. 

Oyster  dishes  on 
plates. 

Small  soup  spoons. 

< 
cq 

i 

Platter  and  tray. 
Two  covered  vege- 
table dishes. 

Lnncheon  plates. 

Small  carver  and 

fork. 

Gravy  spoon. 

Med'm  steel  knives. 

"      silver     ♦* 

"     forks. 

Flat-dish  doilies. 
Finger  bowls. 

Dessert  plates. 

Pie  knife. 
Dessert  forks. 

^ 

Cocoa  pitcher, 

with  cover  and 

stand. 

Sngar  bowl. 

Caps  and  sancers. 

Teaspoons. 
Sugar  tongs. 

Dust  your  sideboard,  and  any  other  article 
of  furniture  that  has  lost  its  fresh  look  since 
breakfast. 

Make  the  table  the  proper  size,  always  allow- 
ing an  extra  place  for  a  guest. 

If  the  polished  table  is  preferred,  see  that 
there  is  no  spot  on  it  and  wipe  with  a  soft 
cloth. 

If  a  table-cloth  is  to  be  used,  first  lay  the 
flannel  cloth  without  crease  or  wrinkle ;  then 
lay  the  linen  cloth  perfectly  smooth  and  even. 


16  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

In  the  centre  of  the  table  place  a  vase  of 
flowers,  a  pot  of  ferns,  or  a  glass  plate  with 
crystallized  ginger  or  bonbons. 

At  the  foot  of  the  table  place  a  tray  for  the 
beefsteak  platter,  and  lay  the  gravy  spoon  at 
the  right  of  it. 

At  the  head  of  the  table  place  a  stand  for 
the  cocoa  pitcher,  sugar  bowl,  with  tongs,  cups, 
saucers,  and  teaspoons. 

If  carafes  are  used,  place  one  for  the  use  of 
every  two  people,  and  a  salt  cup  and  pepper 
box  for  every  two  persons,  unless  the  individ- 
ual salts  are  preferred. 

Place  a  small  luncheon  plate  for  each  person. 
At  the  right  lay  a  luncheon  knife,  with  the 
sharp  edge  turned  towards  the  plate,  a  knife 
for  butter,  a  small  soup  spoon  for  oysters,  a 
tumbler  for  water,  another  for  Apollinaris, 
and  a  glass  for  claret.  At  the  left  lay  a  lunch- 
eon fork,  with  the  tines  turned  up,  a  bread- 
and-butter  plate,  and  a  napkin. 

Place  your  dessert  plates,  each  with  its  fork, 
on  the  sideboard.     On  the  sideboard  have  a 


LUNCHEON  17 

water  pitcher,  extra  glasses,  knives,  forks,  and 
spoons.  Have  on  the  sideboard,  or  at  hand  in 
the  pantry,  everything  that  may  be  asked  for, 
as  fine  sugar,  vinegar,  Worcestershire  sauce, 
mixed  mustard,  and  red  and  white  pepper. 

See  that  the  right  platter  is  being  heated 
for  the  beefsteak,  and  be  sure  that  the  tray 
corresponds  in  size. 

Fill  the  water  pitcher,  and  have  an  extra 
pitcher  of  filtered  water,  or  bowl  of  ice,  in 
your  pantry. 

Cut  the  bread,  and  leave  a  loaf  lying  on  the 
bread  board  in  the  pantry,  with  the  bread 
knife  by  the  side  of  it. 

See  that  the  oyster  dishes  are  placed  to  heat 
in  time  to  be  very  hot  indeed. 

See  that  the  luncheon  plates  are  warm,  but 
not  too  hot  to  mar  the  polish  of  the  table ;  if 
a  cloth  is  used,  they  may  be  hotter. 

Five  or  ten  minutes  before  luncheon-time 
find  out  whether  there  is  any  reason  why 
luncheon  should  not  be  served  at  the  appoint- 
ed hour.     If  the  family  are  ready,  bring  the 


18  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

butter  and  fill  the  glasses.  Put  a  dish  of  oys* 
ters  on  each  plate,  see  that  every  chair  is 
properly  placed,  and  announce  that  luncheon 
is  served. 

When  all  are  seated,  put  the  cracker  plate 
on  your  tray  and  pass,  going  always  to  the  left. 

To  remove  the  oyster  course,  take  in  each 
hand  a  plate,  with  its  oyster  dish  and  spoon, 
and  carry  to  pantry,  until  all  are  removed. 

Bring  your  vegetables  to  the  side -table. 
Place  the  beefsteak  platter  on  the  tray  before 
the  carver,  lay  carving-knife  at  the  right  and 
carving-fork  at  the  left  of  the  platter,  and  put 
the  warm  luncheon  plates  in  front  of  the 
carver. 

When  some  beefsteak  has  been  served,  take 
the  plate  in  your  right  hand  and  lift  to  your 
tray.  Take  to  the  lady  of  the  house.  Serve 
all  on  one  side  first,  then  all  on  the  other  side. 
Go  to  the  right  of  the  person  served  and  put 
the  plate  down. 

Place  the  potato  dish  on  your  tray,  put  a 
spoon  in  the  dish,  and  pass.     Go  to  the  left 


LUNCHEON  19 

side,  as  the  person  served  will  use  his  right 
hand.  Pass  your  spaghetti  in  the  same  man- 
ner.     Offer  gherkins. 

Pass  the  bread. 

Pass  the  butter. 

Fill  the  glasses. 

Offer  claret  and  Apollinaris. 

Never  let  anybody  ask  for  anything  which 
belongs  to  the  regular  luncheon.  If  demands 
are  made  upon  the  sideboard,  supply  them 
quietly  and  quickly.  Pass  the  vegetables, 
bread,  and  butter  whenever  needed.  Listen 
when  beefsteak  is  offered,  and  be  ready  to  hand 
the  proper  plate  without  being  sent  for  it. 

In  removing  this  course,  take  a  suitable  tray 
and  lay  on  it  the  carver,  with  its  fork  and  the 
gravy  spoon.  Be  careful  to  see  that  the  edge 
of  carver  does  not  touch  fork  or  spoon,  and  lay 
the  carver  and  fork  by  themselves  in  the  pan- 
try. Next  take  out  the  beefsteak  plattei-  and 
tray,  and  then  the  vegetable  dishes.  Take  the 
luncheon  plates,  one  in  each  hand,  until  all  are 
removed. 


20  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

Take  the  bread-and-butter  plates,  butter  and 
gherkin  dishes.  Take  off  the  china  tray,  salt 
cups,  pepper  boxes,  and  any  clean  glass  or  sil- 
ver that  has  not  been  used. 

If  from  a  polished  table,  remove  the  crumbs 
with  a  fringed  napkin  and  crumb-tray  or  plate. 
If  a  cloth  is  used,  with  a  silver  crumb  knife 
and  tray  or  plate. 

Place  a  desser  plate,  with  its  fork,  before 
each  person. 

Pass  tarts,  offering  them  at  the  left.  Place 
cups  of  cocoa  at  the  right. 

Fill  the  glasses. 

Pass  the  tarts  a  second  time.  If  cups  are 
empty,  pass  them  to  be  filled  without  waiting 
to  be  told. 

Remove  tart  plates,  by  taking  one  in  each 
hand,  to  pantry,  until  all  are  removed. 

Place  a  plate,  with  finger  bowl,  for  each 
person,  and  pass  bonbons. 

A  luncheon  served  in  this  way  gives  us  the 
following  rules : 

I — A  dining  -  room  must  be  free  from  dust 


LUNCHEON  21 

and  at  a  pleasant  temperature  ;  neither  too 
warm  nor  too  cold. 

II — A  waitress  is  responsible  for  the  proper 
heating  of  dishes  before  they  are  brought  to 
the  table. 

Ill — A  meal  must  never  be  announced  until 
everything  which  is  needed,  or  may  be  needed, 
is  in  readiness. 

IV — Water  must  be  fresh  and  cool. 

Y — Butter  must  not  be  served  so  soon  as  to 
become  soft  and  oily. 

VI — Bread  must  be  freshly  cut. 

VII — Glasses  must  be  kept  filled. 

VIII — Nothing  but  an  unexpected  extra 
should  ever  be  asked  for. 

IX — ^Everything  which  admits  of  choice 
must  hQ  passed  at  the  left.  Everything  which 
does  not  admit  of  choice  must  be  placed  at 
the  right. 

X — In  clearing  the  table,  food  must  be  first 
removed,  then  soiled  china,  glass,  silver,  and 
cutlery,  then  crumbs. 

XI— Everything  relating  only  to  one  course 
must  be  removed  before  serving  another  course. 


Dinner 

Consomme, 

Sherry, 

Olives,  Salted  Almonds. 

Broiled  Bass,  Maitre  d'' hotel  Sauce. 

Claret, 

Roast  Lamh^  Mint  Sauce, 

Green  Pease,  Baked  Tomatoes. 

Potato  Croquettes, 

Lettuce  Salad, 

Crackers,  Cheese, 

Neapolitan  Pudding. 

Coffee, 

To  serve  this  dinner  you  will  need  a  heavy 
table-cloth,  a  linen  table-cloth,  carving -cloths, 
dinner  napkins,  flower  bowl,  candelabra, carafes, 
decanters,  tumblers,  sherry  and  claret  glasses, 
salt  cups,  pepper  boxes,  salt  spoons,  bread  plate, 
olive  dishes,  almond  dishes,  and  spoons. 


DINNER 


23 


ei 

E9 

£ 

Soup  tureen. 

Soup  plates. 

Soup  ladle. 
Soup  spoons. 

a 

1 

Fish  platter. 
Sauce  boat. 

Fish  plates. 

Fish  slice  and  fork. 

Sauce  ladle. 

Fish  forks. 
Fish  knives  (if  re- 
quired). 

1 

Platter. 

Sauce  boat. 

Three  covered 

vegetable  dishes. 

Dinner  plates. 

Large    carver    and 

fork. 

Gravy  spoon. 

Sauce  ladle. 

Three  tablespoons. 

Dinner  knives. 

Dinner  forks. 

ft 

J 

T 
1 

Salad  bowl. 
Cracker  plate  with 

doily. 
Cheese    plate    with 

doily. 

Salad  plates. 

Salad   fork   and 

spoon. 

Cheese  knife. 

Salad  forks. 

Cheese  knives. 

Flat  pudding  dish. 

Finger  bowls. 

Doilies. 

Dessert  plates. 

Pudding  slicer. 
Dessert  forks. 

Tray  and  tray  cloth. 
Coflfee-pot. 
Sugar  bowl. 
Cream  jug. 

After-dinner  cups 
and  saucers. 

Sugar  tongs. 
Coffee  spoons. 

Make  sure  that  the  air  of  the  dining-room  is 
fresh,  and  the  temperature  agreeable. 

If  dust  has  gathered  on  polished  surfaces 
since  luncheon,  wipe  them  lightly  with  a  soft 
cloth. 


24  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

See  that  your  table  is  exactly  in  its  right 
place,  and  not  in  the  least  askew.  Lay  the 
Canton-flannel  .cloth  perfectly  smooth.  Lay 
the  linen  cloth  flat  and  without  a  wrinkle. 
See  that  the  coverings  of  the  sideboard  and 
side-table  are  fresh  and  straight. 

Place  the  flowers  in  the  centre  of  the  table. 

If  candelabra  are  used,  put  one  on  each  side 
of  the  flowers,  on  a  line  with  them.  If  four 
candlesticks,  place  them  in  a  square  a  little 
distance  from  the  flowers. 

Spread  a  carving- cloth  at  the  head  and  one 
at  the  foot  of  the  table.  Be  sure  that  they  lie 
quite  straight  across  it. 

Place  a  carafe  for  the  use  of  every  two  per- 
sons, and  a  salt  cup  and  pepper  box  for  every 
two  persons. 

Lay  a  dinner  plate  for  each  person.  On  the 
right  of  each  plate  lay  a  soup  spoon,  with  the 
bowl  turned  up,  a  dinner  knife  with  the  sharp 
edge  turned  towards  the  plate,  a  fish  knife  (if 
fish  knives  are  used),  a  tumbler  for  water,  a 
glass  for  sherry,  and  a  glass  for  claret. 


DINNER  25 

At  the  left  of  each  plate  lay  a  fork  for  fish, 
and  a  larger  one  for  the  roast.  Lay  them  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  to  be  used,  the 
fish  fork  being  outside.  At  the  left  place  also 
a  napkin  folded  simply  and  holding  a  piece  of 
dinner  bread. 

On  the  sideboard  place  the  dessert  plates, 
on  each  one  of  which  is  a  doily  under  a  fin- 
ger bowl  one-third  full  of  water,  and  a  des- 
sert fork.  Put  on  the  sideboard  a  tray  with 
after-dinner  cups,  saucers,  and  spoons,  a  small 
bowl  of  lump  sugar,  and  a  small  cream  jug. 
Have  on  the  sideboard,  also,  extra  glasses, 
knives,  forks,  and  spoons. 

On  the  side -table  place  extra  plates,  the 
carvers  with  their  forks,  tablespoons,  and  sauce 
ladles.  Leave  room  on  the  side-table  for  veg- 
etable dishes  and  sauce  boats. 

Be  sure  that  the  salad  bowl,  olive  dishes, 
and  pudding  dish  are  cool,  the  tureen,  dishes, 
and  plates  being  properly  heated.  When  it 
is  nearly  time  for  dinner,  place  two  olive 
dishes  and   two   almond    dishes,   alternately, 

3 


26  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

just  outside  of  the  candelabra ;  place  a  decan. 
ter  of  sherry  near  the  carver's  right,  and  a 
decanter  of  claret  at  the  opposite  corner  of 
the  table;  fill  the  carafes,  fill  the  tumblers, 
light  the  candles. 

Place  the  soup  tureen  and  some  warm  soup 
plates  at  the  head  of  the  table,  lay  the  soup 
ladle  at  the  right  of  the  tureen,  see  that  ev- 
ery chair  is  in  its  place,  and  announce  that 
dinner  is  served. 

When  all  are  seated,  uncover  the  soup  tu- 
reen, put  the  cover  on  the  side -table,  and 
stand  at  the  left  of  the  hostess. 

When  a  ladleful  of  soup  is  served,  lift  the 
soup  plate  with  your  right  hand  and  place  it 
on  your  tray.  Take  it  to  the  person  at  the 
right  of  the  hostess.  Go  to  the  right  side. 
Place  the  soup  plate  on  the  cold  dinner  plate. 
Serve  all  on  one  side,  then  begin  at  the  left  of 
the  hostess  and  serve  all  on  the  other  side. 

To  remove  the  soup  course,  take  first  the 
tureen,  then  a  soup  plate  in  each  hand,  until 
all  are  removed.     To  remove  soiled  plates,  go 


DINNER  27 

to  the  right  Properly  done,  this  way  is  more 
agreeable  to  those  who  sit  at  table  than  when 
plates  are  taken  from  the  left. 

Pour  sherry.  Be  careful  to  pour  each  glass 
three-fourths  full. 

Place  the  platter  of  fish  and  warmed  fish 
plates  before  the  host.  Lay  the  fish  slice  at 
the  right  of  the  platter  and  the  fish  fork  at 
the  left  of  the  platter. 

When  a  portion  of  fish  has  been  served, 
lift  the  plate  in  your  right  hand  and  place 
on  your  tray.  Go  to  the  hostess  first  and 
exchange  the  cold  plate  for  the  fish  plate. 
Serve  all  on  one  side,  then  begin  at  the  left 
and  serve  all  on  the  other  side.  Place  the 
sauce  boat  on  your  tray  and  offer  at  the  left, 
going  all  around  the  table. 

To  remove  the  fish  course,  take  first  the 
fish  platter,  then  the  plates,  one  in  each  hand, 
imtil  all  are  removed. 

Pour  claret,  and  leave  the  decanter  near  the 
host.    Pour  each  glass  only  three-quarters  full 

If  olives  and  almonds  have  not  been  served 


28  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

by  the  persons  at  table  to  each  other,  serve 
olives  first,  then  almonds. 

Place  the  roast  before  the  carver,  and  the 
hot  plates.  Lay  the  carving-knife  and  gravy 
spoon  at  the  right  of  the  platter,  and  the 
carving-fork  at  the  left  of  the  platter.  Serve 
the  roast  in  the  same  manner  as  the  fish. 

Put  a  spoon  in  the  potato  dish  and  place 
it  on  your  serving  tray.  Offer  at  the  left  of 
each  person.  Return  the  potato  dish  to  the 
side-table;  serve  the  pease  in  the  same  man- 
ner, then  tomatoes,  and  then  mint  sauce. 

To  remove  this  course,  first  lift  the  carver, 
the  carving-fork,  and  gravy  spoon  to  your  tray 
and  carry  them  to  the  pantry.  Lay  the  carver 
and  fork  carefully  by  themselves.  Remove 
the  platter  with  the  roast.  Remove  plates, 
one  in  each  hand. 

Remove  the  crumbs. 

Place  the  salad  fork  and  spoon  in  the  salad 
bowl ;  put  the  bowl  on  your  tray.  Place  it  be- 
fore the  host,  with  the  salad  plates.  Lay  a  fork 
and  a  knife  quietly  and  quickly  at  each  place. 


DINNER  29 

When  some  salad  is  served,  take  to  the  host- 
ess. Set  the  plate  down  from  the  right.  Serve 
all  on  one  side,  then  all  on  the  other  side. 

Pass  the  crackers,  then  the  cheese. 

"Remove  the  salad  bowl,  salad  plates,  olives, 
almonds,  salt  cups,  pepper  boxes,  and  wine- 
glasses. 

Kemove  the  crumbs. 

Eemove  the  carving-cloths. 

Place  a  dessert  plate,  with  its  finger  bowl 
and  dessert  fork,  before  each  person.  Place 
the  pudding  before  the  hostess.  Lay  the 
pudding  slicer  at  the  right  of  the  pudding 
dish.  Serve  first  the  person  at  the  right  of 
the  hostess.  Serve  all  on  one  side,  then  be- 
gin at  the  left  of  the  hostess  and  serve  all  on 
the  other  side. 

Remove  the  pudding  dish,  plates,  and  finger 
bowls. 

Place  the  coffee  tray  before  the  hostess, 
and  bring  the  coffee-pot.  When  the  coffee  is 
poured,  place  a  cup  at  the  right  of  each  per- 
son.    Offer  sugar  and  cream  at  the  left. 


30  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

If  carafes  are  empty,  fill  them  with  fresh 
water. 

Do  not  leave  the  dining-room  until  you  are 
sure  that  you  have  finished  all  that  there  is 
to  do. 

A  dinner  served  in  this  way  gives  us  the 
following  rules : 

I — A  dining-room  must  be  free  from  dust 
and  at  a  pleasant  temperature. 

II — Table-cloths  must  be  laid  without  wrin- 
kles and  perfectly  straight. 

Ill — The  sharp  edge  of  knives  must  be 
turned  towards  the  plate  ;  bowls  of  spoons 
and  tines  of  forks  must  be  turned  up. 

IV — Carvers  must  be  treated  with  as  much 
respect  as  if  they  were  razors. 

Y — A  waitress  is  responsible  for  the  proper 
heating  of  dishes  and  plates  before  they  are 
brought  to  the  table. 

VI — A  meal  must  never  be  announced  un- 
til everything  is  in  readiness  which  is  needed 
or  may  be  needed. 

VII — Bread  must  be  freshly  cut. 


DINNER  31 

VIII — Everything  which  admits  of  choice 
must  be  ^passed  at  the  left.  Everything  which 
does  not  admit  of  choice  must  be  placed  at 
the  right. 

IX — Soiled  plates  and  dishes  should  be  re- 
moved from  the  right. 

X — In  clearing  the  table,  food  must  be  first 
removed,  then  soiled  china,  glass,  silver,  and 
cutlery,  then  clean  china,  glass,  silver,  and  cut- 
lery, then  crumbs,  then  carving-cloths. 

XI — ^Everything  relating  only  to  one  course 
must  be  removed  before  serving  another 
course. 


Supper 

Bouillon  in  Cups, 

Chicken  in  Aspic  Jelly,  Roast  Ham 

Saratoga  Potatoes. 
Olives,  Bolls. 

Mustard  Pickles.  Butter. 

Salad  Romaine, 

Crackers,  Cheese. 

Almond  Pudding, 

Coffee, 

To  serve  this  snpper  you  will  need :  Heavy 
table-cloth,  linen  table-cloth,  carving- cloths, 
napkins,  doilies,  flower  bowl,  candlesticks, 
carafes,  tumblers,  salt  cups,  pepper  boxes,  salt 
spoons,  plate  for  rolls,  butter  plate  and  knife, 
bread-and-butter  plates,  olive  dishes,  pickle 
dishes,  and  forks. 

Supper  is  served,  instead  of  dinner,  when  it 
is  necessary  to  gain  time  for  an  evening  enter- 


SUPPER 


33 


tainment,  or  when  for  other  reasons  a  shorter 
instead  of  longer  meal  is  desirable. 


1 

1 

Bonillon  bowls 
with  covers. 

Small  plates. 

Small  soup 
spoons. 

Two  cold  platters. 
Vegetable  dish. 

Supper  plates. 

Aspic  slicer. 

Ham  slicer  and 

fork. 

Tablespoon. 

M'd'm  steel  knives. 

**      silver     *' 

•*          "    forks. 

•< 

Salad  bowl. 
Cracker  plate  with 

doily. 
Cheese  plate  with 

doily. 

Salad  plates. 

Salad  fork  and 
spoon. 

Cheese  knife. 

Sfilad  forks. 
Cheese  knives. 

H 

1 

Padding  dish. 

Dessert  plates. 
Finger  bowls. 

Pudding  spoon. 
Dessert  forks. 

M 
fa 

1 

Tray  and  tray 
cloth. 

Coffee-pot. 
Su£?ar  bowl. 

Creara  jug. 

After-dinner 
cups  and  saucers. 

Sugar  tongs. 
Coffee  spoons. 

As  many  dishes  as  are,  possible,  without 
crowding,  are  placed  upon  the  table  before 
the  meal  is  announced. 

Have  the  air  of  the  dining-room  fresh,  and 
the  temperature  not  too  high. 


34  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

See  that  the  furniture  is  free  from  dust. 

Be  sure  that  the  table  is  quite  straight.  Lay 
Canton -flannel  cloth  perfectly  smooth.  Lay 
linen  cloth  without  a  wrinkle.  See  that  the 
coverings  of  the  sideboard  and  side-table  are 
fresh  and  straight. 

Place  flowers  in  the  centre  of  the  table,  and 
four  candlesticks  in  a  square  outside  of  them. 

Lay  carving-cloths  at  the  foot  and  the  head, 
and  see  that  they  are  straight  across  the  end 
of  the  table. 

Place  a  carafe  for  the  use  of  every  two  per- 
sons, and  a  salt  cup  and  pepper  box  for  every 
two. 

For  each  person  lay  a  small  plate.  On  the 
right  of  each  plate  lay  a  small  silver  knife, 
a  medium  steel  knife,  with  the  sharp  edge 
turned  towards  the  plate,  a  small  soup  spoon 
for  bouillon,  and  a  tumbler.  At  the  left  lay 
a  salad  fork,  a  medium  silver  fork,  a  napkin, 
and  a  bread-and-butter  plate  with  a  supper 
roll  and  a  tiny  butter  ball. 

Lay  your  sideboard  and  side-table  with  care. 


SUPPER  35 

Make  sure  that  everything  is  in  readiness 
which  is  or  may  be  needed. 

On  the  side -table  have  a  coflfee  tray  with 
cups,  saucers,  spoons,  sugar  bowl,  and  cream 
jug.  A  salad  tray  with  oil,  vinegar,  mixed 
mustard,  and  red  and  white  pepper ;  also  the 
carving  knives  and  forks. 

On  the  sideboard  place  the  dessert  plates, 
each  with  a  doily,  on  which  stands  a  finger 
bowl  one-third  full  of  water.  At  the  right  of 
the  finger  bowl,  on  the  plate,  lay  a  dessert 
fork.  On  the  sideboard  lay,  also,  extra  knives, 
forks,  spoons,  and  glasses. 

Place  the  aspic  of  chicken  at  the  head  of 
the  table,  and  lay  the  slicer  between  it  and  the 
plates  before  the  hostess.  The  plates  should 
be  half  the  number  of  the  persons  at  table. 
Place  the  roast  ham  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
tabla,  with  the  same  number  of  plates  as  for 
the  chicken.  Lay  the  carving  knife  and  fork 
between  the  platter  and  the  pile  of  plates. 

Place  the  olives  and  pickles  alternately  be- 
tween and  just  outside  the  line  of  the  candle- 


36  THE   EXPERT   WAITRESS 

sticks.  Fill  the  carafes  and  the  tumblers. 
Put  a  bowl  of  bouillon  (covered)  on  each  plate. 
See  that  every  chair  is  in  its  place  and  an- 
nounce that  supper  is  served. 

To  remove  the  bouillon  bowls>  take  in  each 
hand  a  plate,  with  its  bowl,  cover,  and  spoon, 
until  all  are  removed. 

When  a  slice  of  ham  has  been  placed  on  a 
plate,  take  the  plate  in  your  right  hand,  place 
it  on  your  tray,  and  go  to  the  left  of  the  host- 
ess. Hold  your  tray  so  that  she  can  comfort- 
ably put  a  helping  of  chicken  on  the  plate 
with  the  ham.  Serve  this  plate  to  the  person 
on  the  right  of  the  hostess.  She  will  now 
have  a  helping  on  a  second  plate.  Take  this 
plate  from  her  right,  carry  it  to  the  left  of 
the  host  for  a  helping  of  ham.  Serve  this  to 
the  person  at  the  right  of  the  host.  Take 
from  his  right  the  next  plate  which  is  ready 
and  carry  it  to  the  left  of  the  hostess,  as  be- 
fore. Serve  the  next  person  on  her  right,  and 
so  on  until  all  are  served. 

Place  a  spoon  in  the  potato  dish,  put  on 


SUPPER  37 

your  tray,  and  pass  it  at  the  left,  going  all 
around  the  table. 

Pass  the  pickles,  olives,  butter,  and  rolls,  if 
rolls  have  been  furnished  with  bouillon. 

Keep  the  carafes  filled  and  offer  ice  for  the 
glasses. 

When  this  course  is  finished,  remove  first 
the  carvers  and  carving-forks  and  spoon,  then 
the  meat  platters  and  vegetable  dish.  Next 
take  the  plates,  one  in  each  hand,  until  all  are 
removed.  Then  take  the  bread-and-butter 
plates,  and  the  olive  and  pickle  dishes. 

Kemove  the  crumbs. 

Kemove  the  carving-cloths. 

Place  the  salad  fork  and  spoon  in  the  salad 
bowl,  put  it 'on  your  tray,  and  place  it  before 
the  host.    Put  the  salad  plates  before  the  host. 

When  some  salad  has  been  served,  take  the 
plate  in  your  right  hand  and  put  it  on  your  tray. 
Serve  the  hostess  first  by  going  to  the  right 
and  putting  the  plate  down.  Serve  all  on  one 
side  of  the  table  first,  then  begin  at  the  left  of 
the  hostess  and  serve  all  on  the  other  side. 


S8  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

Offer  crackers,  then  cheese,  going  all  around 
the  table. 

Eemove  the  salad  bowl,  lifting  it  from  the 
right  of  the  host  to  your  tray.  Kemove  the 
plates,  one  in  each  hand,  until  all  are  removed. 

Eemove  the  crumbs. 

Place  a  dessert  plate,  with  its  bowl  and  fork, 
before  each  person. 

Place  the  pudding  before  the  hostess.  Lay 
the  pudding  slicer  at  the  right  of  the  pudding 
dish. 

To  servfe  the  pudding  begin  at  the  right  of 
the  hostess,  each  time  exchanging  the  dessert 
plate  before  the  person  served  for  the  plate  on 
your  tray. 

Remove  the  pudding  dish  and  plates  and 
finger  bowls. 

Place  the  coffee  tray  before  the  hostess. 
Bring  the  coffee-pot  and  place  at  the  right  of 
the  tray. 

When  the  coffee  is  poured  place  a  cup  at 
the  right  of  each  person. 

Offer  sugar  and  cream. 


afternoon  Uea 

For  afternoon  tea  you  need :  Two  small 
tables,  fringed  or  embroidered  tea  cloths,  doi- 
lies, an  urn  for  bouillon,  bouillon  cups,  spoons, 
a  teakettle,  teapots,  tea  caddy,  sugar  bowls, 
cream  jugs,  sugar  tongs,  teacups  and  saucers, 
teaspoons,  a  pitcher  for  iced  water,  tumblers, 
plates  for  finger  rolls,  plates  for  small  cakes, 
bonbon  dishes. 

The  afternoon  tea  which  may  properly  be 
placed  under  the  head  of  receptions  is  not 
here  considered.  To  serve  it  requires  more 
than  one  person. 

The  simple  afternoon  tea  of  a  lady  who  is 
at  home  informally  to  her  friends  should  be 
arranged  by  the  waitress.  She  should  have 
command  of  this  situation,  as  well  as  of  all 
others  in  her  department.     Bouillon  should 


40  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

be  Jwt^  a  cup  of  tea  should  be  hot  diU^  fresh. 
Finger  rolls  should  be  spread  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  bits  of  butter  will  not  come  in  contact 
with  gloves.  A  tumbler  must  be  only  three- 
fourths  full  of  water. 

Place  a  small  table  —  round  if  possible — 
where  it  will  be  most  convenient  for  the  host- 
ess. Lay  on  it  a  daintily  embroidered  tea 
cloth,  two  or  three  choice  cups  and  saucers, 
with  spoons,  a  small  sugar  bowl  with  sugar 
tongs,  a  small  cream  jug,  a  dish  of  bonbons, 
and,  at  the  last  moment,  a  small  teapot  of 
freshly  made  tea. 

In  a  corner  of  the  room,  or  at  one  side  in 
the  background,  lay  another  table  with  a  tea 
cloth  and  place  upon  it  an  urn  of  bouillon, 
bouillon  cups,  doilies,  teacups  and  saucers, 
spoons,  a  kettle  of  boiling  water,  a  pitcher  of 
iced  water,  tumblers,  plates  of  finger  rolls  and 
small  cakes,  a  dish  of  bonbons,  a  sugar  bowl, 
a  cream  jug,  and  a  tea  caddy.  On  this  table 
have,  also,  a  teapot  heating  for  the  next  brew- 
ing of  tea.     Twenty  minutes,  or  even  more, 


AFTERNOON   TEA  41 

may  elapse  between  the  serving  of  the  first 
cups  of  tea  and  those  which  follow.  Tea  to 
be  enjoyable  must  be  freshly  brewed. 

When  the  hostess  has  received  a  guest  or 
guests,  offer  bouillon  from  a  tray  which  holds 
also  a  small  plate  of  finger  rolls  and  one  or 
two  doilies.  If  tea,  which  the  hostess  offers, 
is  preferred,  offer  cakes  with  it. 

Observe  quietly  when  a  guest  has  finished  a 
cup  of  bouillon  or  a  cup  of  tea,  and,  without  the 
least  appearance  of  haste,  remove  it  on  your 
tray.  Be  sure  that  the  hostess  has  always 
some  fresh  cups  ready  to  serve,  and  replenish 
the  sugar  bowl  and  cream  jug  when  necessary. 

If  tea  and  cake  only  are  served,  you  will  still 
need  a  table  for  the  hot -water  kettle,  pitcher 
of  iced  water,  tumblers,  and  whatever  is  neces- 
sary to  replenish  the  tea-table  of  the  hostess. 

If  Russian  tea  be  served,  select  a  fair,  fresh 
lemon  and  slice  it  evenly.  Place  a  small  dish 
which  holds  three  or  four  slices  of  lemon  on 
the  tea-table,  and  have  another  in  reserve  from 
which  to  replenish. 

4 


picnic  an&  travelling  Xuncbeons 

Choose  a  drawer  or  shelf  on  which  to  keep 
all  the  neat  boxes  which  otherwise  would  be 
thrown  away.  With  them  put  cords,  small, 
wide -mouthed  bottles,  with  suitable  corks,  a 
package  of  paraffine  paper,  and  some  light 
wrapping  paper. 

With  these  accessories  at  hand  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  put  up  a  few  sandwiches,  some 
olives  or  tiny  pickles,  and  some  wafers  or  cake. 

If  picnic  luncheons  are  frequent  in  summer 
and  the  waitress  assists  the  cook  in  putting 
them  up,  she  can  save  much  time  and  many 
mistakes  of  omission  by  writing  out  a  list  of 
all  the  things  ordinarily  needed  for  such  occa- 
sions. This  list  she  will  keep  in  a  safe  place, 
and  refer  to  it  as  soon  as  a  picnic  is  mentioned 
to  see  what  will  have  to  be  done  the  day  be- 
fore or  early  in  the  morning. 


PICNIC   AND   TRAVELLING  LUNCHEONS       43 


A  list  may  be  something  like  this : 


Plates. 


Cups. 

Knives. 

Forks. 

Doilies. 

Teaspoons. 

Can-opener. 

Corkscrew. 

Hatchet. 

Coffee,  sugar,  and 

cream. 
Canned  tongue. 
Canned  chicken. 
Cold  fried  oysters. 
Cold  roast  lamb. 
Graham  and  white 

wafers. 
A  loaf  of  bread. 


Coffee-pot. 
Glass  jar  for  cream. 
Glass  jar  for  salad. 
Jelly  glass   or  a  bowl 

with  tight  cover  for 

butter. 
Box     and     paper     for 

prunes,  etc. 
Agate  pail  for  water. 
Matches. 
Butter,  packed  in  jelly 

glass    or    bowl,   and 

left  in   the  ice-box 

overnight. 
Vegetable  salad. 
Pickles,  olives,  salt. 
Prunes,   crystallized 

ginger. 
Sweet  chocolate. 


Care  of  2)fnfng::s1Room 

Suppose  a  dining-room  in  which  the  mova- 
ble furniture  consists  of  a  table,  a  sideboard,  a 
side -table,  a  dinner  wagon,  a  screen,  and 
twelve  chairs.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  is  a 
large  rug  which  covers  all  except  a  polished 
border  of  three  feet  from  the  walls  all  around 
the  room.  The  two  windows  are  draped  with 
curtains,  there  are  pictures  on  the  walls  and 
candelabra  and  ornaments  on  the  mantel.  In 
one  cornier  of  the  room  is  a  closet,  with  glass 
doors,  for  glass,  and  in  another  corner  one 
similar  for  fine  china.  Under  the  one  for 
glass  is  a  safe  for  silver,  and  under  the  one  for 
china,  shelves  for  some  linen.  Both  safe  and 
shelves  are  enclosed  by  doors  without  glass. 

The  dining -table  is  the  right  size  for  the 
family,  its  extra  leaves  being  in  their  frame  in 


CARE  OF  DINING-ROOM  45 

the  pantry.  It  stands  in  the  middle  of  the 
rug. 

The  end  of  the  table  next  to  the  door  is  the 
head  ;  that  next  the  window,  the  foot. 

The  sideboard  is  long  enough  and  broad 
enough  to  hold  all  that  need  be  placed  upon 
it.  It  stands  at  the  side  of  the  room  between 
the  china  closet  and  the  pantry  door.  The 
side  -  table  has  two  large  drop  leaves,  one  or 
both  of  which  may  be  used  as  occasion  re- 
quires. It  .stands  at  the  side  of  the  room  be- 
tween the  mantel  and  a  corner.  The  dinner 
wagon  is  made  of  the  same  wood  as  the  other 
furniture  in  the  dining-room.  It  is  made  of 
shelves  of  the  same  size,  each  with  a  little 
guard  rim  of  wood  or  brass,  and  each  large 
enough  to  hold  easily  a  large  dinner  plate.  It 
stands  on  the  polished  floor  between  the  win- 
dow and  the  corner  next  to  the  pantry  door. 
There  is  no  sill  under  this  door,  and  the  wagon 
is  on  rubber  rollers,  so  that  it  can  be  moved 
noiselessly  and  rolled  into  the  space  in  the 
pantry  which  is  provided  for  it.     The  screen 


46  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

has  two  broad  leaves  and  is  placed  so  as  to 
hide  the  pantry  door. 

The  rug  in  the  dining-room  should  be 
brushed  up  every  morning,  or  swept  with  a 
carpet  sweeper,  and  the  polished  border  should 
be  wiped  with  a  dry  cloth.  Once  every  week 
the  room  should  be  thoroughly  swept. 

Roll  up  the  rug  ready  to  be  taken  out  for 
shaking.  Lay  on  the  dining-table  either  paper 
or  a  sheet  which  is  kept  for  the  purpose,  to 
prevent  scratches.  On  this  place  ornaments, 
dishes  from  the  sideboard,  etc.,  and  cover  to 
keep  from  the  dust.  See  that  all  doors  and 
drawers  are  tightly  closed.  Open  the  win- 
dows. 

If  the  rug  cannot  be  taken  out  each  time, 
draw  it  one  side,  and  move  the  table  into  a 
corner  before  putting  anything  on  it.  Sweep 
the  rug  well,  being  sure  to  sweep  with  the  nap 
and  not  against  it.  Roll  it  up  as  closely  as 
possible.  Sweep  the  floor  with  a  hair  brush 
having  a  long  handle,  and  use  a  broom  for  the 
rug  only,  so  as  to  permit  as  little  dust  as  possi- 


CARE  OF  DINING-ROOM  47 

ble  to  rise  to  pictures  and  curtains.  Take  up 
the  dust  and  carry  it  away.  Shake  out  the 
curtains  so  deftly  that  you  neither  tear  nor 
wrinkle  them.  Take  a  feather  duster  with  a 
long  handle  to  brush  off  the  tops  of  the  cur- 
tain poles,  tops  of  pictures,  and  mouldings 
which  are  too  high  to  reach  with  a  cloth. 

Bring  a  pail  of  water  and  wipe  up  the  floor 
with  a  wet  cloth.  Learn  to  rub  with  the  grain 
of  the  wood,  and  do  not  leave  lines  or  streaks. 
When  dry,  rub  the  polished  border  with  crude 
petroleum,  which  should  be  applied  with  cot- 
ton waste,  such  as  is  used  to  clean  engines,  and 
polish  with  clean  cotton  waste.  A  very  small 
amount  of  crude  petroleum  should  be  used, 
and  a  weekly  use  of  it  keeps  the  polish  fresh. 

Wash  your  hands ;  relay  the  rug ;  dust  the 
room.  In  dusting  use  a  small  feather  duster 
where  necessary,  but  depend  chiefly  upon  soft 
cloths.  Du8t  should  he  taken  up  and  shalcen 
out  of  doorSy  not  whisked  again  around  a 
room. 

Keplace  china  and  ornaments.    Notice  care- 


48  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

fully  whether  any  spot  or  stain  needs  to  be 
removed.  Polish  glass  doors  and  glass  of  pict- 
ures.    Wash  windows. 

To  keep  the  polish  of  the  dining-table  per- 
fect, rub  every  three  days  with  a  mixture 
made  of  equal  parts  of  olive  oil  and  turpen- 
tine. Apply  with  flannel  cloth  and  polish 
with  clean  flannel  cloth.  Dull  spots  on  other 
furniture  may  be  treated  in  the  same  way. 

Every  morning  before  breakfast  the  dining- 
room  must  be  well  aired  and  thoroughly 
dusted. 

After  each  meal  crumbs  must  be  taken  up 
carefully  from  the  rug. 


Care  of  panttu 

Neatness  and  order  in  your  pantry  will  de- 
pend in  great  measure  upon  the  way  you  clear 
your  table.  If  you  look  upon  your  butler's 
pantry  as  a  dumping -ground,  then  dirt  and 
disorder  will  be  inevitable.  But,  on  the  con- 
trary, if  you  consider  it  a  workshop,  to  be  kept 
shipshape,  you  will  avoid  these  dangers.  Ship- 
shape means  a  place  for  everything  and  every- 
thing in  its  right  place. 

Make  up  your  mind  in  the  beginning  where 
you  want  to  lay  your  knives,  where  you  want 
your  silver,  which  is  the  best  place  for  your 
heavier  china  and  the  safest  for  your  delicate 
pieces.  When  these  places  are  well  chosen, 
then  stick  to  them. 

You  must  be  sure  to  have  a  bowl  or  pan 
large  enough  to  hold  all  the  broken  bits  and 


50  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

bones  from  any  meal.  A  large  yellow  bowl 
or  agate  pan  is  suitable  for  this.  Do  not  use 
a  tin  pail ;  it  is  not  cleanly.  A  piece  of  lemon 
or  a  spoonful  of  tomato  will  rust  it  and  it  will 
soon  become  disagreeable. 

Do  not  begin  your  work  until  the  food  is 
put  away.  Next  empty  every  glass,  cup, 
bowl,  and  pitcher.  Kinse  with  cold  water 
those  which  have  been  used  for  milk  or 
cream.  Scrape  your  plates  and  dishes  care- 
fully, and  put  those  of  one  sort  together. 
This  saves  time;  it  does  not  waste  it.  A 
crust  of  bread  from  the  broken  bits  will  easily 
wipe  out  a  fine  china  bowl  or  silver  ladle 
without  scratching  it  as  a  knife  or  spoon 
might  do. 

Keep  a  pan  and  brush  at  hand,  and  if  food 
is  dropped  on  your  pantry  floor  take  it  up  at 
once.  Then  you  will  have  one  greasy  spot 
instead  of  long  streaks  to  scour  out. 

When  you  have  finished  washing  dishes,  al- 
ways leave  your  pan  or  sink  perfectly  clean. 
Your  sapolio  is  provided  for  the  purpose  of 


CARE  OF  PANTRY  51 

cleaning  them  thoroughly  and  in  an  expedi- 
tious manner.  Once  a  week  you  must  wash 
down  the  pipes  with  a  strong  solution  of  sal 
soda  and  water  that  is  actually  boiling,  not 
simply  hot. 

Never  leave  soiled  towels  lying  in  your 
pantry.  After  each  meal  wash  out  those  you 
have  used  and  hang  them  to  dry.  You  may 
add  a  little  dilute  ammonia  to  the  water  in 
which  you  wash  them.  Once  a  week,  all  tow- 
els that  have  been  used  should  be  thoroughly 
washed,  scalded,  and  ironed.  You  need  fresh 
ones  each  time  for  glass  and  fine  china.  Do 
not  let  your  pile  of  fresh  ones  get  exhausted 
before  you  have  other  fresh  ones  to  take  their 
place. 

Your  pantry  shelves  should  be  kept  well 
dusted,  every  drawer  clean  and  in  order,  the 
knife  cleaner  in  proper  place,  the  silver-clean- 
ing materials  in  their  place.  See  that  the 
clean  hand  towels  are  not  mixed  with  the  dish 
towels.  Keep  salad  cloths  by  themselves. 
Be  sure  that  the  brooms  and  long  dusters  are 


52  THE   EXPERT   WAITRESS 

hung,  not  standing  on  the  floor,  and  choose  a 
good  place  for  keeping  dusting  cloths  and 
small  feather  dusters. 

Always  remember  that  shipshape  means  a 
place  for  everything  and  everything  in  its 
right  place. 


XlClasbing  Wishes 

To  wash  dishes,  silver,  and  knives,  you  need : 
A  clean  sink,  plenty  of  hot  water,  soap  with- 
out much  soda  in  it,  a  dish  drainer,  dish  cloths 
and  mops,  a  soap  shaker,  a  cake  of  sapolio,  a 
bottle  of  dilute  ammonia,  a  knife  cleaner, 
plenty  of  clean,  dry  towels. 

Make  a  suds  not  too  strong.  Too  much 
soap  quickly  takes  color  and  gilding  off  from 
china. 

Never  leave  soap  lying  in  the  water. 

Begin  with  the  glass,  and  see  that  every 
glass  is  emptied  before  you  begin  to  wash. 
Cold  water  in  one,  some  milk  in  another, 
claret  in  another,  will  soon  make  your  pan 
unfit  to  wash  anything  in. 

The  rule  for  glass  holds  good  for  cups.  See 
that  every  cup  is  emptied  before  you  begin  to 
wash. 


54  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

When  a  pitcher  has  been  used  for  milk  or 
cream,  rinse  it  first  with  cold  water,  and  you 
will  have  no  trouble  to  cleanse  it.  The  same 
rule  applies  to  tumblers. 

After  the  glass,  tate  the  delicate  china  cups 
and  saucers,  dessert  plates,  etc.  Put  your 
mind  on  your  work.  Inspect  each  piece  when 
it  leaves  your  hand  to  see  if  it  is  perfectly 
clean  and  dry. 

By  the  time  the  glass  and  fine  china  are 
washed  the  water  will  be  chilled.  Let  it  run 
out,  and  make  a  fresh  hot  suds  for  the  silver. 

Never  leave  soap  lying  in  the  water. 

When  silver  is  washed  clean  and  laid  on  the 
drainer,  fill  a  pitcher  with  hot  water  and  pour 
over  it. 

Now  use  your  judgment  and  see  whether 
the  water  is  clean  enough  and  hot  enough  for 
dishes.  If  it  is,  take  a  pile  of  plates,  or  your 
vegetable  dishes,  or  whatever  you  think  you 
can  cleanse  without  needing  hot  water. 

Change  the  water  whenever  it  is  necessary. 

Never  on  any  account  leave  dishes  lying  in 


WASHING  DISHES  55 

the  water  while  you  go  to  attend  to  something 
elsewhere.  To  do  so  injures  gilding  and  col- 
or. Kemember  if  you  are  quick  you  can  do  a 
good  deal  before  one  water  cools,  and  you  will 
have  to  change  only  when  it  is  soiled. 

Never  put  many  dishes  to  wash  at  one  time. 
The  size  of  your  sink  or  pan  will  regulate  the 
number.  Put  dishes  of  one  kind  in  at  one 
time,  and  dishes  of  another  kind  in  the  next 
time.     Then  you  can  work  rapidly. 

If  you  put  in  a  pile  of  dinner  plates,  some 
bread-and-butter  plates,  a  little  pitcher,  and 
a  sauce  boat,  and  you  find  when  you  are 
through  that  the  pitcher  is  cracked,  a  handle 
off  of  the  sauce  boat,  and  a  chip  out  of  one  of 
the  large  plates,  do  not  report  that  you  could 
not  prevent  these  accidents.  Such  things  do 
not  come  under  the  head  of  accidents ;  they 
come  under  the  head  of  carelessness. 

You  may  rinse  plates  and  dishes  in  the 
same  way  that  you  do  silver,  with  this  differ- 
ence :  you  must  see  that  the  water  poured  upon 
delicate  china  is  not  too  hot,  or  it  will  crack  it. 


50  THE   EXPERT   WAITRESS 

Before  you  begin  to  wash  at  all,  ask  your- 
self where  you  are  going  to  stand  your  dishes 
when  they  are  dried.  Arrange  so  that  you 
have  room  enough  without  letting  clean  dishes 
touch  soiled  ones,  or  without  being  obliged  to 
put  dry  dishes  on  a  wet  spot. 

When  your  silver  is  dried  put  it  away.  Do 
not  let  it  lie  where  it  will  be  spattered  from 
the  washing  of  the  next  things. 

There  are  two  good  reasons  for  spreading 
out  a  clean  towel  on  which  to  lay  your  silver 
as  you  dry  it.  One  is  that  the  silver  does  not 
get  scratched,  and  the  other  is  that  it  enables 
you  to  handle  it  in  a  noiseless  manner. 

There  is  a  good  reason  for  washing  dishes 
of  one  kind  together,  aside  from  the  question 
of  cracking  and  chipping.  When  they  are 
washed  and  dried  they  are  ready  to  put  away 
without  further  sorting. 

Silver  trays  used  at  each  meal  should  be 
washed  after  each  meal,  just  as  regularly  as  a 
bread  plate  or  a  crumb  tray.  Sometimes 
crumbs  fall  on  a  tray,  sometimes  a  drop  from 


WASHING  DISHES  57 

a  sauce  boat.  These  you  can  see ;  but,  unless 
you  think  about  it,  you  will  not  realize  that 
you  cannot  serve  a  meal  without  leaving  fin- 
ger marks  and  dull  spots  on  the  edge  of  a 
tray. 

Watch  the  inside  of  your  pitchers.  Sedi- 
ment from  boiling  water  or  stains  from  choco- 
late may  be  easily  removed  the  first  day ;  after 
that  twice  the  time,  at  least,  will  be  needed  to 
efface  them.  If  clear  water  or  hot  soapsuds 
will  not  do  it,  use  a  little  sapolio. 

When  your  dishes  and  silver  all  are  finished, 
cleanse  your  steel  knives.  Never  let  the  han- 
dles touch  the  water.  Hold  in  your  left  hand 
and  wash  the  blades  with  your  right.  After 
they  are  washed  scour  the  blades  with  bath 
brick  or  on  an  emery  board.  Let  the  blade 
rest  flat  upon  your  board  ;  this  prevents  bend- 
ing and  loosening  the  handle. 

There  is  a  knife  cleaner  which  many  ladies 
would  like  to  have  used  for  their  knives,  if 
they  knew  that  it  would  be  properly  used.  It 
is  a  disk  with  emery  pads  on  a  wheel,  and  has 


58  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

spaces  for  both  small  knives  and  carvers.  If 
the  knives  are  put  in  as  they  should  be,  a  few 
turns  of  the  wheel  will  polish  and  sharpen 
them  at  the  same  time.  If  carelessly  put  in, 
both  knives  and  machine  can  be  spoiled  in  one 
using.  But  this  machine  is  costly,  and  you 
will  need  to  prove  yourself  an  expert  before 
adding  it  to  the  pantry  furnishings. 


Care  of  Sflper,  TBtc. 

Once  every  week  your  silver  should  be 
thoroughly  polished. 

First  clean  with  electro-silicon,  or  any  per- 
fectly smooth  powder,  mixed  with  a  little  al- 
cohol and  water.  Rub  with  soft  cloths  or 
chamois,  and  use  a  soft  brush  where  necessary. 
Sometimes  it  is  impossible  to  get  all  the  pow- 
der out  of  tracery  and  filigree  work.  In  that 
case  hold  under  boiling  water  and  dry  quickly. 

If  you  have  a  Vienna  coffee-pot,  Benares 
brass  trays,  or  similar  articles  to  clean,  rub 
first  with  electro-silicon  and  a  mixture  of  one- 
half  lemon  juice  and  one -half  water,  then 
polish  with  hard  silver  rouge. 

To  keep  the  polish  of  your  tables  in  order, 
have  a  mixture  of  one -half  turpentine  and 
one-half  olive  oil.     Wash  the  wood  with  clear 


60  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

water,  or  water  in  which  a  little  borax  has 
been  dissolved.  Never  rub  soap  on  polished 
wood.  Rub  a  little  of  the  oil  and  turpentine 
on  with  a  flannel  cloth.  Polish  with  a  clean 
flanneL 


Xamps 

Dining-room  lamps  are  either  a  source  of 
great  pleasure  or  of  perpetual  torment. 

Any  one  who  washes  dishes  according  to 
the  directions  given  will  not  have  to  be  told 
to  have  always  a  spotless  chimney  and  no  oil 
on  the  outside  of  jars. 

To  prevent  oil  from  oozing  over  the  top  of 
the  burner,  turn  the  wick  down  after  the  light 
is  out. 

Rub  the  wicks,  do  not  cut  them.  A  new 
wick  must  be  started  right.  Loose  threads 
should  be  clipped  off  to  start  with,  but  when 
once  in  shape  the  necessity  for  clipping  will 
be  very  rare.  A  wick  ought  to  be  put  in 
several  hours  before  using,  so  that  it  may  be 
thoroughly  saturated  with  oil.  When  a  lamp 
has  been  burned,  if  one  part  is  a  little  higher 


62  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

than  the  other  parts  it  will  char  first,  and, 
when  well  charred,  can  be  rubbed  oflf  to  the 
level  of  the  rest.  A  bit  of  soft  paper,  a  nail- 
brush, or,  best  of  all,  the  unbroken  finger  of 
a  glove,  will  do  this  successfully. 

Be  sure  that  no  bit  of  charred  wick  or 
burned  fly  or  moth  is  left  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  burner.  There  is  danger  of  these  ignit- 
ing and  setting  fire  to  the  oil  in  the  reservoir. 
A  clean,  unbroken  lamp  is  not  dangerous. 

If  a  lamp  has  been  left  standing  with  a  little 
oil  in,  it  should  not  be  lighted  until  filled  and 
the  burner  carefully  wiped.  It  is  possible  that 
gas  may  have  formed,  making  the  lamp,  as  it 
stands,  unsafe  to  light  before  refilling. 

To  start  the  circular  wick  of  a  large  lamp, 
like  the  Rochester,  put  a  new  wick  in  the  burn- 
er, and  saturate  thoroughly  with  oil  that  part 
of  the  wick  that  is  above  the  burner,  which  is 
best  done  by  holding  wick  and  edge  of  burner 
upside  down  in  a  shallow  cup  of  oil.  Put  the 
burner  in  the  lamp,  but  have  no  oil  in  the 
lamp.     Light  the  wick  and  put  the  chimney 


LAMPS  63 

on.  Let  the  oil  burn  out  of  the  wick.  This 
method  chars  the  wick  so  that  it  can  be 
rubbed  down  to  a  smooth,  even  surface. 
Started  rightly,  a  wick  can  be  kept  even. 
The  objection  to  this  is  the  odor  from  the 
burning  wick  ;  but  the  time  necessary  to  do  it 
is  short,  and  an  open  window  can  be  arranged 
without  having  enough  draught  to  break  the 
chimney. 

When  a  lamp  is  first  lighted,  leave  the  flame 
low  until  the  metal  of  the  burner  is  heated, 
then  turn  as  high  as  possible  without  smoking. 
This  secures  a  clear,  steady  flame. 

To  clean  burners,  boil  in  water  in  which  sal 
soda  has  been  dissolved.  Put  one  teaspoonful 
to  each  quart  of  water. 

To  prevent  chimneys  from  cracking,  put 
them  before  using  into  a  large  pan  and  cover 
them  with  cold  water.  Bring  the  water 
slowly  to  a  boil.  Take  the  pan  off  of  the  fire 
and  let  the  chimneys  cool  slowly  in  the  water. 

If  the  brass  catches  of  a  burner  are  too 
tight,  the  chimney  will  break  as  it  expands 


64  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

with  the  beat.  These  catches  are  easily  loos- 
ened without  injuring  the  lamp. 

Alcohol  lamps  for  kettles  and  chafing-dishes 
must  be  kept  perfectly  clean.  The  wicks 
must  sometimes  be  renewed  before  they  are 
burned  out.  The  question,  What  is  the  mat- 
ter with  the  lamp?  may  often  be  solved  by 
putting  a  fresh  wick  in  the  place  of  one  that 
has  become  clogged. 

This  is  very  often  true  of  oil  lamps.  There 
is  more  or  less  paraflSne  in  oil,  which  fills  the 
wick  and  prevents  combustion. 


CatviriQ 

The  chair  placed  for  a  carver  must  be  high 
enough  to  allow  the  work  to  be  done  comfort- 
ably without  the  carver  being  obliged  to  stand. 
The  platter  must  be  large  enough  to  hold  the 
entire  joint  or  bird  when  carved,  without  any 
piece  falling  over  the  edge  of  the  platter.  A 
waitress  should  make  sure  before  placing  a  dish 
in  front  of  the  carver  that  the  platter  is  really 
hot ;  if  it  is  not  the  dish  gravy  will  become 
chilled,  and  consequently  unfit  for  use,  before 
it  can  be  served. 

See  that  no  string  or  skewer  is  left  to  annoy 
the  carver.  The  silver  skewers  sent  to  table 
intentionally  are,  of  course,  excepted.  The 
platter  must  be  placed  near  enough  to  the  car 
ver  to  prevent  awkwardness  or  the  necessity 
of  moving  the  dish.     In  serving  large  birds, 


66  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

as  goose  or  turkey,  place  the  head  always  to 
the  left.  If  smaller  birds,  as  partridge  or 
grouse,  which  are  placed  across  the  platter,  let 
the  heads  be  on  the  farther  side.  A  saddle  of 
mutton  should  be  placed  with  the  tail  end  to 
the  left  of  the  carver.  A  haunch  of  venison 
or  mutton,  with  the  loin  or  backbone  nearest 
the  carver.  A  leg  of  mutton  or  lamb,  or  a 
knuckle  of  veal,  with  the  thickest  part  towards 
the  back  of  the  platter.  A  shoulder  of  mutton 
or  veal,  with  the  thickest  part  up.  A  rib  roast 
or  a  sirloin  roast  should  be  placed  with  the 
backbone  at  the  right  end  of  the  platter.  A 
rump  roast,  with  the  backbone  at  the  farther 
side  of  the  platter.  A  round  of  beef,  with  the 
flesh  side  up.  A  sirloin  beefsteak,  with  the 
tenderloin  next  to  the  carver.  A  fillet  of  beef, 
with  the  thickest  end  at  the  right  end  of  the 
platter.  A  calf's  head,  with  face  to  the  right. 
A  roast  pig,  with  head  to  the  left.  A  roast 
ham,  with  the  thickest  part  on  the  farther  side 
of  the  platter. 

A  waitress  should  know  how  to  carve.     The 


CARVING  67 

first  steps  may  be  learned  by  cutting  bread  and 
slicing  pressed  meats.  To  do  these  two  things 
perfectly,  one  must  acquire  a  steady  hand  and 
a  straight  eye.  Slices  must  be  of  uniform 
thickness,  thin  enough  to  be  delicate,  not  thin 
enough  to  break.  There  must  be  no  ragged 
edges.  From  the  slicing  of  cold  meats  to  the 
slicing  of  a  rolled  roast  or  other  meats  from 
which  the  bones  have  been  taken  is  not  a  great 
step  if  the  knife  be  in  perfect  condition. 
Enough  confidence  will  have  been  gained  to 
grasp  the  slicer  firmly  and  slice  quickly  and 
firmly  across  the  roast. 

Further  than  this  it  will  not  be  well  to  go 
without  some  object  lessons,  for  the  meats  are 
not  the  only  things  to  be  considered ;  the 
knives  must  be  kept  from  injury. 

When  you  have  placed  a  rib  roast  properly, 
watch  the  carver.  Study  the  different*  posi- 
tions of  the  knife  and  fork,  as  he  puts  the  fork 
in  the  middle  and  cuts  down  to  the  ribs  close 
to  the  backbone.  The  thick  gristle  near  the 
backbone  will  be  next  cut  off.    Then  from  the 


68  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

side  neareBt  the  carver  will  be  cut  thin,  even 
slices  parallel  with  the  ribs,  and  the  knife  run 
under  them,  separating  them  from  the  bone. 
The  sirloin  roast  will  be  sliced  in  the  same 
way,  a  cut  being  made  at  the  flank  end  as  well 
as  near  the  backbone  to  separate  the  slices. 

You  will  notice  that  a  good  carver  is  care- 
ful to  serve  neatly  the  crisp  fat  with  the  rare 
slices.     This  adds  richness  to  their  flavor. 

To  carve  a  beefsteak,  the  eye  must  be 
trained  to  know  at  once  the  best  parts,  and  all 
of  the  best  should  not  be  served  to  one  or  two 
persons.  First  cut  out  the  tenderloin  close  to 
the  bone  and  cut  it  into  long,  narrow  pieces, 
then  cut  the  other  part  from  the  bone  and  cut 
into  strips.  Serve  a  part  of  each,  and  serve 
the  fat  to  those  who  prefer  it. 

To  carve  a  leg  of  mutton  or  lamb,  or  knuckle 
of  veal,  put  the  fork  in  the  top,  turn  it  towards 
you  and  cut  slices  through  to  the  bone,  slip  the 
knife  under  and  cut  them  away  from  the  bone. 
The  under  side  may  be  sliced  in  the  same 
manner 


CARVING  60 

A  saddle  of  mutton  must  be  carved  with 
the  grain  of  the  meat,  in  long,  thin  slices 
from  each  side  of  the  back.  It  must  be  partly 
turned  over  to  reach  the  tenderloin  and  kid- 
ney fat. 

The  leg  and  saddle  of  venison  are  carved  in 
the  same  way  as  the  leg  and  saddle  of  mutton. 
When  the  leg  and  loin  are  served  together,  the 
loin  should  be  carved  before  the  leg.  First 
cut  off  the  flank  and  cut  it  in  pieces,  then  sep- 
arate the  ribs  and  afterwards  carve  the  leg. 

It  will  be  better  not  to  attempt  to  carve  a 
forequarter  of  mutton,  lamb,  or  veal  until  this 
part  has  been  studied  uncooked  and  the  joints 
learned.  The  same  advice  applies  to  birds, 
large  and  small. 

To  carve  a  forequarter,  put  the  carving-fork 
in  firmly  near  the  knuckle.  Cut  all  around 
the  leg  and  up  on  the  shoulder.  Lift  the  leg 
from  the  shoulder  and  cut  till  you  reach  the 
joint.  Cut  through  this  joint,  then  from  left 
to  right,  separating  the  lower  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  breast.     Take  out  the  blade,  if  it 


70  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

has  not  already  been  removed,  divide  the  ribs, 
and  then  slice  the  leg  if  it  be  required. 

Eoast  ham  should  be  cut  from  the  thickest 
part  down  to  the  bone,  in  thin  slices,  the  fat 
and  crust  being  served  with  each  slice. 

In  carving  tongue,  the  tip  or  thinnest  part 
should  be  cut  lengthwise.  The  centre  is  the 
finest  part. 

Before  trying  to  carve  poultry,  study  the 
joints  of  the  uncooked  birds.  When  you  find 
a  joint  and  cut  the  cord  and  gristle,  a  leg  or  a 
wing  is  free.  To  find  a  side  bone  or  a  collar 
bone  is  not  easy  at  first,  but  can  be  learned  by 
a  little  practice. 

Watch  the  rapid  manipulations  of  a  good 
carver.  Kemember  that  to  carve  a  roast 
chicken  or  turkey,  you  remove  first  the  leg, 
then  the  wing,  from  one  side,  then  the  leg  and 
wing  from  the  other  side,  separating  the  joints. 
Then  carve  the  breast  on  each  side ;  next  take 
oflf  the  wishbone,  separate  the  collar  bones  and 
shoulder  blades,  separate  the  breastbone  from 
the  back,  then  the  back  from  the  body,  and 


CARVING  VI 

then  the  side  bones.  In  large  birds  the  second 
joints  and  legs  should  be  carved  in  at  least 
two  pieces. 

The  breast  of  a  roast  goose  and  of  a  roast 
duck  should  be  cut  parallel  to  the  breastbone. 

Small  birds,  when  not  served  whole,  may 
be  cut  from  the  neck  to  the  end  of  the  breast 
and  down  through  the  backbone. 

To  carve  a  large  partridge,  cut  off  the  leg 
and  wing  from  one  side,  then  from  the  other ; 
leg  and  wing  should  be  served  together.  Re- 
move the  breast  from  the  back  and  cut  it 
through  the  middle.  When  the  birds  are 
smaller,  serve  one  half  of  a  bird  to  each  person. 

In  carving  fish,  learn  to  serve  neatly  and 
leave  the  backbone  on  the  platter.  Carve  to 
the  bone,  and  serve.  Remove  the  bone  to 
one  side  and  carve  the  lower  half. 

A  carver  should  try  not  only  to  serve  each 
person  acceptably,  but  to  leave  the  meat  on 
the  platter  in  appetizing  form  for  a  second 
helping. 


Care  of  Car\>er6 

Fine  carvers  should  be  treated  with  the 
same  respect  as  fine  razors.  They  should  be 
laid  always  by  themselves.  On  no  account 
should  the  edge  of  one  carver  touch  that  of 
another  carver,  nor  should  it  touch  any  other 
hard  substance. 

A  carver  must  always  be  sharpened  on  its 
steel  before  it  is  offered  for  use,  unless  a  con- 
trary direction  is  given,  and  when  necessary 
should  be  taken  without  delay  to  the  shop  of 
a  careful  workman  to  have  the  edge  renewed. 

It  is  safest  to  replace  carvers  in  their  own 
cases.  When  they  are  laid  in  a  drawer,  it  is 
well  to  keep  each  one  in  its  own  simple  case 
of  heavy  gray  flannel. 


Oeneral  IRuIes 

The  air  of  a  dining-room  must  be  fresh,  and 
not  too  warm.  Furniture  must  be  free  from 
dust.  Table-cloths  must  be  laid  straight  and 
smooth.  Side-tables  must  be  draped.  ]JTap- 
kins  must  be  folded  simply,  and  not  in  fanciful 
shapes,  as  fans,  etc.  The  edge  of  a  knife  must 
be  turned  towards  the  plate ;  bowls  of  spoons 
and  tines  of  forks  turned  up.  Knives  and 
spoons  must  be  placed  at  the  right  of  a  plate ; 
forks  at  the  left.  Place  knives  and  forks  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  to  be  used ;  the 
first  one  used,  on  the  outside. 

All  glasses  must  be  placed  at  the  right. 

Napkins  and  bread-and-butter  plates  must 
be  placed  at  the  left. 

Carvers,  fish-slice  and  fork,  etc.,  should  be 
laid  on  a  side-table  until  needed,  then  placed 

6 


U  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

quietly  and  quickly,  the  knife  at  the  right  of 
the  platter,  and  the  fork  at  the  left. 

Extra  plates,  glasses,  knives,  forks,  and 
spoons  should  be  in  readiness  on  the  side- 
board. 

Such  things  as  mustard,  vinegar,  etc.,  which 
may  be  wanted,  should  be  in  readiness  on  the 
side-table  or  in  the  pantry. 

Filtered  water,  ice,  and  extra  bread  or  rolls 
should  always  be  at  hand  in  the  pantry  during 
a  meal. 

Bread  must  be  freshly  cut. 

Water  must  be  fresh  and  cool. 

Butter  must  not  be  served  so  soon  as  to  be- 
come soft. 

A  waitress  is  responsible  for  the  proper 
heating  of  dishes  before  they  are  brought  to 
the  table. 

A  meal  must  not  be  announced  until  every- 
thing is  ready  which  is  or  may  be  needed. 

Everything  not  too  large  to  rest  comfortably 
upon  a  serving-tray  should  be  handed  from  it. 

Any  dish   from  which  a  person   at  table 


GENERAL  RULES  75 

helps  himself  should  be  offered  at  the  left. 
Any  dish  which  the  waitress  serves  should  be 
placed  at  the  right. 

Glasses  for  water  must  be  kept  filled. 

In  removing  a  course,  food  must  be  first 
taken ;  then  soiled  china,  glass,  silver,  and  cut- 
lery ;  then  clean  china,  glass,  silver,  and  cut- 
lery ;  then  carving-cloths,  and  lastly  crumbs. 

Soiled  plates  and  dishes  should  be  removed 
from  the  right. 

To  remove  a  carving-cloth,  fold  it  quickly 
together  and  lift  to  tray. 

Everything  relating  only  to  one  course  must 
be  removed  before  serving  another  course. 

Plates  and  dishes  must  never  be  piled  to- 
gether so  that  china  rests  on  pieces  of  silver. 

Work  in  pantry  must  be  as  nearly  noiseless 
as  possible. 

A  waitress  must  not  leave  the  dining-room 
until  she  is  sure  that  there  is  nothing  more 
for  her  to  do. 

Before  a  girl  is  an  "  expert "  in  waiting  she 
must  learn : 


16  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

To  stand  straight.  ^ 

To  step  lightly  and  quickly. 

To  dress  neatly.    """ 

To  keep  tidy  hair,  clean  teeth,  and  clean 
finger-nails. 

To  close  a  door  without  noise. 

To  take  proper  care  of  a  dining-room, 
{ pantry,  silver,  brass,  lamps,  and  polished  wood. 
.  To  handle  dishes  and  silver  in  a  quiet  man- 
ner. 

To  carry  dishes  without  having  them  touch 
her  dress.    ^^ 

To  treat  carvers  with  as  much  respect  as  if 
they  were  razors. 

To  sharpen  carvers. 

To  remove  crumbs. 

To  cut  bread. 

To  make  butter  balls.  ^"^ 

To  dress  salads.    ' 

To  make  sandwiches. 

To  make  coffee,  tea,  and  chocolate. 

To  serve  wines.     ^-^ 


flBiscellaneous  ITnsttuctions 

Dainty  meals  are  served  in  a  great  many 
houses  where  there  is  neither  time  nor  incli- 
nation for  the  number  of  courses  which  are 
considered  necessary  at  other  tables.  Perfec- 
tion of  serving,  that  is,  perfect  comfort,  should 
be  aimed  at  as  much  in  one  case  as  in  the 
other.  There  should  be  absolute  cleanliness 
and  noiseless  movement.  Meals  should  be 
ready  on  time,  and  there  should  be  no  occa- 
sion to  wait  for  things  that  ought  to  be  close 
at  hand.  Time  may  be  gained  without  caus- 
ing confusion,  if  proper  thought  be  given  be- 
forehand to  the  serving  of  each  particular 
dish.  Instead  of  passing  a  fish  sauce,  it  may, 
in  many  cases,  be  put  on  the  platter  with  the 
fish,  so  that  the  carver  serves  some  of  it  with 
each  helping.     Meat  gravies  may  be  put  on 


18  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

the  table  to  be  passed  from  one  to  another 
without  the  help  of  the  waitress.  When  this 
is  done  the  waitress  should  select  two  suitable 
gravy  boats  or  bowls,  see  that  they  are  prop- 
erly heated  and  not  filled  too  full.  When 
she  has  brought  hot  plates  to  the  carver  she 
may  bring  the  gravy  boats,  put  one  near  one 
end  of  the  table  and  another  near  the  other 
end.  This  may  be  done  so  quickly  that  she 
will  be  ready  to  take  the  first  plate  which  the 
carver  has  ready  for  her.  The  same  rule  ap- 
plies to  pudding  sauces.  Instead  of  one  large 
bowl  or  dish,  two  pretty,  smaller  ones  may  be 
selected  and  put  on  the  table  immediately  af- 
ter the  pudding  has  been  placed  before  the 
hostess.  Pickles  and  other  relishes  may  be 
served  in  two  or  more  small  dishes  and  put  at 
convenient  distances  along  the  table. 

A  dinner -table  is  much  more  attractive 
with  a  handsome  plate  before  each  person  as 
he  or  she  is  seated ;  but  where  time  and  space 
are  limited,  the  cold  plate  may  be  dispensed 
with. 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  79 

The  proper  placing  of  a  side-table  makes 
every  difference  in  the  serving  of  a  meal.  A 
small  table  at  each  end  of  the  room  is  often 
desirable.  This  gives  a  proper  place  to  put 
down  a  vegetable  or  other  dish,  without  walk- 
ing the  length  of  the  room,  when  the  waitress 
needs  to  take  a  plate  to  the  carver  for  a  second 
helping.  This  table  may  hold  whatever  extras 
may  be  needed  by  the  hostess  for  the  dishes 
which  she  serves,  as  the  table  near  the  host 
holds  extra  carvers,  etc.,  which  he  may  need. 
These  tables  must  be  used  with  discretion,  and 
no  unsightly  dish,  which  should  be  at  once 
carried  to  the  pantry,  must  be  allowed  to  re- 
main on  them.  Their  object,  like  that  of  the 
dinner  wagon  described  in  "  Care  of  Dining- 
Boom,"  is  simply  to  lessen  time  between 
courses  and  to  help  a  waitress  to  pass  vegeta- 
bles before  meats  have  grown  cold. 

The  best  serving  is  often  most  appreciated 
where  there  are  not  the  conveniences  neces- 
sary for  carrying  out  rules  which  at  first  sight 
seem  very  simple.    To  remove  the  dishes  from 


80  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

a  dinner  of  even  five  or  six  courses,  according 
to  the  directions  given,  it  is  necessary  to  have 
a  pantry  large  enough  to  put  down  the  dishes 
as  they  are  taken  from  the  table,  without  pil- 
ing one  upon  the  other.  This  takes  a  good 
deal  of  space.  The  one  waitress  has  no  assist- 
ant to  take  from  her  hand  and  deftly  separate 
knives,  forks,  and  spoons  from  plates  and 
dishes,  piling  all  in  a  compact  manner.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  that  she  should  exercise 
her  very  best  common-sense. 

If  the  pantry  opens  into  a  roomy,  well-ven- 
tilated kitchen,  by  a  swing  door  which  makes 
no  noise,  then  a  large  table  may  be  placed  in 
the  kitchen  so  that  an  extra  step  or  two  will 
make  possible  the  putting  down  of  all  dishes 
for  which  there  is  no  room  in  the  pantry. 
Where  this  is  not  possible,  some  means  must 
be  devised  for  gathering  together  the  dishes 
with  the  least  possible  confusion.  One  way 
to  do  it  is  the  following : 

When  a  course  is  finished  take  a  suitable 
tray  for  soiled  dishes ;  go  to  the  right  of  each 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  81 

person  to  remove  the  dishes,  beginning  at  any 
convenient  place  at  the  table.  After  a  cereal 
course,  place  a  dish  on  your  tray  and  quickly, 
without  any  noise,  lay  the  spoon  by  the  side  of 
it  on  your  tray.  Put  the  next  dish  on  the  top 
of  the  one  you  have  already  taken  and  the 
spoon  by  the  other  spoon.  When  you  have 
taken  dishes  and  spoons,  take  plates,  piling 
one  above  another  on  your  tray. 

If  there  are  few  people  at  table,  you  may 
take  all  at  once ;  if  there  are  more,  you  must 
judge  for  yourself  how  many  times  to  go. 
Follow  this  rule :  Never  pile  dishes  on  a  tray 
in  a  manner  to  look  disagreeable  to  yourseK  or 
to  those  who  sit  at  table. 

Salad  and  dessert  plates  you  may  remove  as 
you  do  cereal  dishes,  putting  forks  or  spoons 
on  the  tray  by  the  side  of  the  plates. 

After  a  meat  course,  go  to  the  right,  holding 
your  tray  in  your  left  hand  near  enough  to  let 
no  particles  of  food  fall  upon  the  table.  Take 
the  knife  and  fork  at  the  same  time  in  your 
right  hand,  lay  the  knife  on  one  side  of  your 


82  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

tray  and  the  fork  on  the  other  side.  As  you 
go  around  the  table  in  this  way  put  all  the 
knives  together  on  one  side  and  the  forks  on 
the  other.  Carry  the  knives  and  forks  to  the 
pantry.  Next  take  the  plates.  Put  one  above 
another  on  your  tray  until  you  have  taken 
three  or  four  from  the  table.  Proceed  in  this 
manner  until  all  are  removed. 

A  waitress  will  do  well  to  make  herself  ac- 
quainted as  soon  as  possible  with  the  proper 
way  of  serving  other  courses  than  those  of  the 
simple  dinner.  She  should  know  how  to  serve 
oysters  and  clams  cold  on  the  half-shell,  or  to 
see  that  the  oyster  plates  are  thoroughly 
chilled  without  being  cracked.  She  should 
know  the  different  sauces  and  the  correct 
manner  of  serving.  For  instance,  if  game  be 
served  without  a  sauce,  she  may  offer  dressed 
celery  or  lettuce  to  be  taken  on  the  same  plate. 
If  a  hot  sauce  and  a  salad  are  both  served,  she 
will  provide  an  extra  plate  for  the  salad.  She 
should  learn  the  correct  temperature  for  wines, 
as  well  as  the  glasses  in  which  they  belong, 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  83 

and  various  other  details  necessary  to  be  at- 
tended to  during  a  full  dinner. 

Many  things  may  be  learned  by  cheerfully 
assisting  the  caterer  who  serves  an  occasional 
dinner  in  the  household,  or  by  taking  a  posi- 
tion where  a  part  of  the  parlor  maid's  duty  is 
to  assist  an  experienced  butler ;  or,  in  many 
houses,  the  mistress  herself  will  kindly  give 
the  necessary  instruction. 

A  waitress  who  has  become  competent  may 
arrange  and  serve  special  meals,  delegating  the 
work  done  formerly  with  a  caterer  to  assistants 
under  her.  She  must  be  careful  not  to  attempt 
more  than  she  can  safely  perform,  and  then 
carry  out  her  plan  with  quiet  confidence  in  her 
own  ability.  Except  in  case  of  an  accident 
which  she  cannot  remedy,  she  should  not  speak 
to  the  hostess,  who  should  be  left  perfectly  free 
to  entertain  her  guests  without  a  care  about  the 
food  which  they  are  eating.  All  doubts  should 
be  settled  before  the  lady  of  the  house  goes  to 
her  room  to  dress  for  dinner.  A  waitress, 
however  competent,  must  consult  those  whom 


84  THE   EXPERT  WAITRESS 

she  serves  upon  the  special  way  of  having 
many  things  done.  She  must  know  how  to 
sharpen  carvers,  but  she  must  not  try  her  hand 
upon  new  ones  without  finding  out  whether 
the  host  prefers  to  handle  them  entirely  him- 
self ;  this  question  to  be  asked,  of  course,  be- 
fore laying  the  table.  The  special  form  of 
serving  boiled  eggs  should  also  be  settled, 
and  the  question  of  serving  cheeses  whole 
or  broken. 

Cheeses  of  the  pineapple  and  Eadam  varie- 
ties should  be  cut  so  that  the  top  will  fit  again 
closely  and  exclude  the  air.  To  preserve  per- 
fectly a  section  cut  from  any  large  cheese,  it 
should  be  kept  wrapped  in  a  napkin  or  piece 
of  cheese  cloth  wrung  out  of  cider  vinegar. 
Ehine  wine  will  answer  the  same  purpose, 
but  the  vinegar  will  not  leave  an  objectionable 
trace.  Cheese  should  always  be  served  on  a 
folded  napkin,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  more 
or  less  oily  and  looks  pleasanter  on  the  napkin 
than  on  the  plate. 

The  crisp  green  salad,  with  its  accompani- 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  85 

ment  of  a  red  or  golden  cheese,  is  one  of  the 
most  agreeable  courses  of  the  dinner,  and  no 
unsightly  crumbs  should  be  left  on  the  cloth 
before  it  is  served. 

A  carving-cloth  should  not  be  folded  on  the 
table.  The  corners  may  be  turned  deftly  to- 
gether and  the  cloth  removed  to  a  tray  on 
which  it  may  be  carried  to  the  pantry,  to  be 
folded  later. 

When  a  number  are  at  table,  only  a  part  of 
the  plates  should  be  put  before  the  carver  at 
one  time ;  but  the  others  must  be  ready  on  a 
near  side-table. 

By  learning  to  make  dainty  paper  frills  for 
lamb  chops  or  for  the  bone  of  a  ham,  and  by 
studying  simple  garnishings  of  fresh  parsley, 
celery  tips,  and  lemon,  pleasant  effects  may  be 
produced  and  a  reputation  for  taste  and  skill 
acquired.  The  same  dish  may  be  served  in  a 
variety  of  vrays,  one  of  which  may  tempt  the 
appetite  where  others  have  failed.  Instead 
of  serving  chicken  salad  in  a  plain  dish  at 
luncheon,  it  may  be  put  in  cups  made  by  re- 


86  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

moving  the  pulp  from  solid  red  tomatoes,  and 
each  tomato  placed  on  a  bed  of  green  lettuce 
leaves. 

One  is  always  pleased  by  a  novelty,  that  is, 
after  the  more  substantial  part  of  a  meal 
is  finished,  and  a  waitress  who  becomes  an 
artist  in  her  especial  line  may  not  only  give  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  to  others,  but  keep  her- 
self from  getting  tired  of  the  daily  routine. 
If  she  wishes  to  raise  her  work  above  the  level 
of  mere  drudgery,  she  will  study  to  see  how 
she  can  improve  each  day  upon  the  work  of 
the  day  before. 

Nothing  should  ever  be  done  because  Mrs. 
X's  butler  does  so  and  so,  or  because  Mrs.  Y's 
maid  says  she  saw  it  done  like  this  in  England. 
Every  good  rule  has  a  good  reason  for  its 
foundation ;  every  rule  which  has  not  a  good 
reason  for  being  should  be  replaced  by  a  better 
one. 

There  are  good  reasons  for  serving  the  lady 
of  the  house  first,  although  this  rule  is  often 
waived  to  do  honor  to  the  distinguished  guest 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  87 

for  whom  a  luncheon  or  dinner  is  given.  In 
a  country-house  several  distinguished  people 
or  dear  friends  are  entertained  at  one  time ;  to 
serve  the  hostess  first  and  follow  a  regular 
order  along  the  table  makes  no  distinction. 
Novelties  are  often  introduced,  both  in  food 
and  in  service.  Dishes  are  served  before  which 
a  guest  hesitates  as  to  which  fork  or  which 
spoon  to  use  until  he  glances  at  his  hostess  to 
see  which  one  she  takes  up. 

Not  every  one  who  travels  goes  to  the  East, 
and  not  every  one  who  goes  to  the  East  is 
entertained  by  Eastern  dignitaries  and  brings 
Eastern  customs  home.  When  a  lady  does 
dispense  with  finger-bowls  and  follows  the 
custom  of  a  Grand  Pacha  in  having  passed  to 
her  guests  a  large  silver  bowl  of  rose  water, 
in  which  each  one  in  turn  is  expected  to  dip 
the  tips  of  the  fingers  and  wipe  them  on  a 
pearl-fringed  towel,  she  need  not  be  surprised 
if  the  first  guest,  seeing  this  bowl  of  rare 
workmanship  presented  at  her  left  hand,  looks 
about  on  the  tray  for  some  spoon  or  ladle  by 


88  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

which  she  is  to  help  herself  to  the  pale  bever- 
age. If  the  bowl  be  handed  first  to  the  host- 
ess and  she  follows  the  custom  of  the  Grand 
Pacha,  no  guest  need  betray  that  she  was  not 
brought  up  in  the  house  of  a  Grand  Pacha 
herself. 

A  hostess  who  takes  pride  in  having  her 
forks  made  to  suit  special  courses,  like  aspar- 
agus, and  who  has  several  forks  laid  by  each 
plate  before  dinner  is  served,  finds  it  necessary 
to  take  up  the  right  one  before  her  guests 
make  a  choice.  I  have  in  mind  a  dinner 
where  the  hostess  delayed  the  tasting  of  a 
course,  the  absent-minded  host  took  the  wrong 
fork,  some  guests  took  one  and  some  another. 
The  butler  did  his  best  to  replace  the  right 
ones ;  but  after  all  his  efforts,  somebody  had 
a  wrong  fork  to  the  end  of  the  dinner. 

A  waitress  should  remember,  when  going 
into  a  new  family,  that  some  things,  which 
seem  novel  to  her  and  only  to  be  done  away 
with,  may  be  old-established  family  customs, 
to  which  she  must  adapt  herself  if  she  is  to 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  89 

give  satisfaction.  If  she  finds  that  pease,  to- 
matoes, and  other  vegetables  are  served  in  a 
semi -liquid  state  instead  of  the  drier  one  to 
which  she  has  been  accustomed,  she  must  use 
the  small  dishes  provided,  remembering  that 
the  rule,  "  all  vegetables  are  to  be  eaten  from 
the  dinner  plate,"  is  not  accepted  by  all  house- 
keepers, although  it  is  by  a  great  number.  So, 
if  fish  knives  are  provided,  she  need  not  feel 
that  she  is  offending  against  good  manners, 
even  if  she  has  seen  only  forks  used  before. 

However,  there  are  some  things  which  a 
little  true  tact  and  management  might  alter 
for  the  benefit  of  all  concerned.  I  knew  one 
table  where  many  well -cooked  dishes  and 
many  delicate  desserts  were  served,  at  which 
the  relishes  were  something  startling.  Span- 
ish peppers,  stuffed  and  pickled,  I  had  been 
used  to  see  cut  in  small  pieces  and  served 
from  a  pickle  dish.  At  this  table  a  whole 
stuffed  Spanish  pepper  was  served  to  each 
person  in  a  small  dish  which  held  some  of  the 
vinegar  as  well  as  the  pepper. 


90  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

An  improvement  upon  this  is  the  serving 
of  olives  in  small  dishes  to  each  person,  al- 
though it  is  hard  to  realize  how  any  one  at  a 
well-served  dinner  would  care  to  eat  a  relish 
as  if  it  were  a  vegetable.  Those  who  are 
fond  of  olives  think  them  very,  very  good, 
and  those  who  do  not  like  them  think  they 
are  horrid ;  but  it  would  seem  better  to  lunch 
oflE  of  them  when  alone,  and  not  neglect  for 
one  flavor  the  many  flavors  prepared  for  en- 
joyment during  a  well-thought-out  dinner. 

A  waitress  with  good  health,  a  fair  amount 
of  brains,  and  a  determination  to  be  a  better 
waitress  than  any  woman  was  before,  has  a 
great  field  before  her.  But  if  she  aspires  to 
raise  waiting  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession, 
she  must  study ;  she  must  educate  her  eye  to 
know  the  difference  between  a  line  that  is  ex- 
actly straight  and  one  that  is  slightly  askew ; 
she  must  train  her  memory  until  the  daily 
routine  is  perfectly  easy  and  she  can  give 
thought  to  decoration  and  invention ;  she  must 
educate  her  hands  until  they  are  to  be  trusted 


MISCELLANEOUS  INSTRUCTIONS  91 

with  the  care  of  the  frailest  glass  and  china, 
and  educate  her  sense  of  smell  and  of  taste 
until  she  can  suit  each  salad  dressing  to  the 
dinner  of  which  it  forms  a  part,  making  it 
rich  or  piquant,  as  the  other  dishes  demand. 

In  one  of  our  largest  cities  I  have  been 
shown  a  large  kitchen  which  had  been  fitted 
up  next  to  an  employment  bureau  for  the 
training  of  partially  trained  cooks  and  wait- 
resses. The  teacher  had  been  dismissed,  the 
cooking  utensils  and  the  range  were  for  sale. 
"Why?"  "Because  the  ladies  would  not  give 
their  maids  any  time  to  come  and  learn." 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  was  true;  but 
there  are  plenty  of  ladies  who  do  wish  their 
maids  to  learn,  and  if  those  who  have  op- 
portunities for  improvement  will  make  the 
most  of  those  opportunities,  they  will  raise 
the  standard  of  work,  and  inspire  their  co- 
workers who  are  now  willing  to  stay  as  they 
are  and  let  well  enough  alone. 


Tllsefttl  Suggestions 

In  order  to  do  any  work  in  the  best  man- 
ner it  is  necessary  that  one  should  be  strong 
and  well.  To  become  strong  and  to  keep 
well  some  simple  rules  must  be  understood 
and  carefully  followed.  One  may  be  blessed 
with  good  health,  but  no  constitution  can 
stand  the  strain  nxade  upon  it  when  the  ways 
and  means  for  preventing  fatigue  and  disease 
are  disregarded. 

To  keep  good  health  it  will  be  necessary  to 
form  carefully  and  to  continue  steadily  nice 
habits  of  personal  cleanliness. 

Personal  cleanliness  includes  more  than 
keeping  the  skin  and  the  hair,  the  nails  and 
the  teeth,  clean.  It  includes  keeping  one's 
sleeping-room  sweet  and  fresh,  and  airing  the 
bed  thoroughly  every  morning.      To  spread 


USEFUL  SUGGESTIONS  93 

up  a  bed  a  few  minutes  after  one  is  out  of 
it  may  give  to  the  room  an  air  of  neatness, 
but  it  folds  into  the  bedding  the  close  air  of 
the  night  instead  of  letting  it  all  go  out  of 
the  window,  to  be  replaced  by  the  freshness 
of  the  morning. 

And  cleanliness  means  more  than  a  clean 
gown  and  clean  collar  and  cuffs.  One  of  the 
first  things  for  a  waitress  to  consider  is  her 
supply  of  underclothing.  She  will  see  the 
necessity  of  fresh  print  dresses  for  morning 
work,  and  a  neat  dark  costume  for  afternoons ; 
but  she  may  be  thoughtless  at  first  about 
underclothing.  Yet  to  keep  clean,  and  by 
keeping  clean  to  promote  good  health,  nothing 
is  more  important  than  to  be  able  to  change 
underclothing  whenever  she  feels  the  need  of 
doing  so.  And  in  clothing,  stockings  are  an 
important  item.  It  is  restful  to  change  shoes, 
but  more  restful  to  change  both  shoes  and 
stockings.  The  warm,  tired  foot  is  very  grate- 
ful for  the  clean,  smooth  stocking  before  it  be- 
gins its  rounds  about  the  evening  dining-table. 


94  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

Slippers  or  low  shoes  for  house  wear  must 
be  thoroughly  comfortable,  and  shoes  for  out- 
of-doors  must  give  a  firm  support  to  the  feet, 
and  at  the  same  time  protect  them  from  the 
wet  and  the  cold.  To  buy  cheap  shoes  is  not 
real  economy.  A  shoe  to  be  worth  buying 
should  be  well  made  and  fit  comfortably. 
Such  a  shoe  will  outwear  two  or  three  pairs 
of  the  cheap  ones  which  are  showy  but  poor- 
ly made. 

To  preserve  health  it  is  very  important  to 
have  a  sufficient  amount  of  sleep.  Girls  some- 
times say  that  they  need  only  a  little  sleep, 
and  are  never  tired  except  just  before  they 
get  up  in  the  morning.  But  one  ought  not 
to  feel  tired  in  the  morning  just  before  get- 
ting up.  Sleep  should  be  long  enough  to  re- 
fresh both  mind  and  body,  and  care  should  be 
taken  to  insure  the  necessary  amount. 

It  may  seem  at  first  as  if  regulation  of 
hours  is  beyond  the  control  of  one  who  is 
serving  other  persons  ;  but  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  things,  much  depends  upon  the  worker 


USEFUL  SUGGESTIONS  95 

and  the  manner  in  which  she  performs  her 
work.  If  hours  of  waiting  are  ended  early 
she  must  go  to  bed  early,  for  she  will  be  re- 
quired to  be  up  betimes  in  the  morning.  If 
she  has  to  wait  late  at  night  it  is  not  likely 
that  she  will  be  required  to  be  up  too  early 
in  the  morning,  provided  her  work  is  careful- 
ly done  after  she  is  up.  If  she  loses  health 
and  strength  because  of  too  little  sleep  it  will 
sometimes  be  on  account  of  sitting  up  late,  as 
many  say  they  do,  to  read  exciting  novels ;  or, 
when  she  has  evenings  out,  crowding  as  much 
exercise  and  excitement  into  one  evening  as 
ought  to  go  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  dozen. 

It  is  said,  too,  that  the  matter  of  meals  is 
beyond  control ;  but  this  is  often  not  so. 
Many  a  lady  has  taken  the  greatest  pains  to 
arrange  proper  meals  for  the  maids  in  her 
employ,  and  has  had  them  served  at  an  ear- 
lier hour  than  those  of  the  family.  In  this 
case  a  waitress  does  not  have  to  stand  with 
an  empty  stomach,  passing  food  which  makes 
her  feel  faint  and  ill,  she  scarcely  knows  why. 


96  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

The  idea  that  a  hasty  meal  taken  at  intervals 
from  the  remains  of  a  late  dinner  is  better 
than  a  plainer  one  nicely  served  and  eaten 
at  leisure  is  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes  that 
can  be  made ;  yet  it  is  constantly  made  by 
many  of  those  to  whom  the  choice  is  given 
of  having  meals  before  or  after  waiting  upon 
the  table. 

Many  employers  are  more  than  ready  to 
arrange  for  the  comfort  of  maids  in  this  and 
in  other  matters.  When  they  are  not,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  they  have  been  too  long 
and  too  sorely  tried  by  ignorant  and  unappre- 
ciative  help  to  hope  at  first  that  the  new  or- 
der of  intelligent  and  thoroughly  trained  wait- 
resses is  going  to  be  any  better  than  those 
who  have  preceded  them  in  the  household. 

With  good  health  it  is  easier  to  break  up 
bad  habits  and  form  better  ones  than  when 
one  has  to  give  valuable  time  and  attention 
to  bodily  ailments. 

A  habit  too  easily  formed,  and  one  which 
should  be  at  once  broken  up,  is  that  of  listen- 


USEFUL  SUGGESTIONS  97 

ing  to  what  is  said  at  table,  instead  of  concen- 
trating attention  upon  the  waiting.  Not  that 
there  is  any  harm  in  listening  to  good  conver- 
sation, but  if  while  listening  one  misses  the 
softly  spoken  "  Bread,  please,"  or  "  Will  you 
fill  my  glass  ?"  and  has  to  be  recalled  by  a  rep- 
etition of  the  request  by  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  some  marks  have  certainly  been  lost 
from  a  perfect  record. 

Elderly  persons  should  not  be  neglected, 
but  should  be  especially  considered  at  meals. 
Often  some  little  thing  from  the  side-board, 
not  cared  for  by  the  rest  of  the  family,  may 
be  desired  by  them.  A  little  forethought  will 
provide  the  vinegar  or  celery  salt  or  whatever 
it  may  be,  and  no  unnecessary  interruption  to 
the  meal  need  be  made. 

At  breakfast  and  luncheon  a  waitress  may 
add  much  to  every  one's  comfort  by  keeping 
a  watchful  eye  on  the  plates  of  the  children. 
A  hungry  child  is  sometimes  apparently  un- 
reasonable without  wishing  to  be  naughty. 
One  child  may  be  forbidden  maple  syrup  on 


98  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

his  cereal  and  allowed  sugar.  If  the  sugar  be 
not  provided,  and  he  sees  the  others  eating 
the  syrup  which  he  loves  but  may  not  have, 
it  is  almost  too  much  to  expect  that  he  will 
wait  patiently  until  his  needs  are  remem- 
bered. 

Waiting  is  a  department  of  woman's  work 
which  is  capable  of  being  greatly  improved 
and  raised  to  a  higher  standard.  The  women 
who  will  improve  this  department  are  those 
who  appreciate  the  necessity  of  good  health, 
and  who  will  use  every  means  in  their  power 
to  secure  health  and  to  keep  it.  They  are 
women  who  will  learn  thoroughly  the  duties 
they  have  elected  to  perform.  They  will  train 
hand  and  foot  to  do  their  instant  bidding. 
They  will  train  the  eye  so  that  nothing  in 
the  daily  routine  will  be  left  undone,  and  so 
that  nothing  outside  of  it  which  may  add  to 
the  general  comfort  will  escape  their  notice. 


Hn  tbe  f  n\?aH&*5  IRoom 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  sick-room  is 
not  a  place  for  the  waitress — that  the  trained 
nurse  is  also  the  waitress  of  her  patient.  This 
is  often  true,  for  in  cases  of  extreme  illness  it 
is  many  times  unsafe  to  allow  the  confusion  of 
voices  with  the  noise  of  movement  which  ac- 
companies the  entrance  of  one  unaccustomed 
to  invalids.  There  are,  however,  numerous 
instances  of  transient  illness  or  indisposition 
which  are  to  be  considered.  If  a  little  girl  has 
had  croup  in  the  night,  and  must  be  kept  in 
bed  the  next  day,  a  nurse  is  not  sent  for ;  or 
if  a  boy  goes  swimming  too  early  in  the  sea- 
son, and  has  such  a  cold  after  it  that  he  can- 
not get  up,  it  will  not  be  considered  necessary 
to  bring  some  one  in  from  outside  to  take  care 
of  him.     Then  there  are  convalescents  after 


100  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

an  illness,  and  elderly  persons  who  perhaps 
two  or  three  times  a  week  may  need  to  break- 
fast in  bed.  Enough  cases  to  make  it  worth 
while  for  a  waitress  to  consider  as  a  part  of 
her  training  the  proper  way  to  conduct  her- 
self in  the  sick-room. 

The  nearer  she  brings  her  work  to  perfection 
in  other  departments,  the  nearer  perfection 
will  she  be  in  this. 

The  first  thing  to  consider  will  be  the  nice- 
ty of  her  appearance  and  the  absence  of  noise. 
If  she  has  been  out  in  the  street  to  do  an  er- 
rand, she  will  on  no  account  hasten  to  the 
sick-room  with  a  tray  before  she  has  replaced 
by  her  soft  shoes  the  heavier  ones  which  may 
have  a  squeak  in  them.  And  she  will  at  no 
time  go  hastily  into  a  sick-room.  She  will 
open  the  door  as  softly  as  a  nurse  herself 
would  do,  and  move  as  noiselessly  when  she 
is  in  the  room.  She  will  not  express  by  her 
looks  that  she  thinks  a  patient  is  worse  than 
the  day  before,  or  say,  in  what  she  calls  a 
whisper,  as  she  goes  out,  "  She  looks  a  good 


IN  THE  INVALID'S  ROOM  101 

deal  paler,"  or,  "  I  really  believe  he  is  going 
to  be  down  sick." 

The  tray  taken  to  an  invalid  should  be 
studied  as  carefully  as  the  table  in  the  din- 
ing-room. A  trained  eye  will  let  no  spot  or 
stain  on  the  dining-room  linen  escape  it;  nor 
will  a  trained  waitress  fail  to  replace  a  spotted 
cloth  by  a  fresh  one.  On  a  tray  cloth  a  coffee 
stain  or  a  fruit  stain  is  not  at  all  sure  to  es- 
cape notice  because  it  is  covered  by  a  plate 
or  a  saucer.  That  plate  or  that  saucer  is  the 
very  one  that  will  surely  be  lifted,  and  the 
stain  will  jar  the  sense  of  neatness,  which 
grows  more  keen  when  one  is  shut  in  from 
all  outside  things  which  in  health  claim  the 
attention. 

Selection  of  china  and  glass  is  another  im- 
portant matter.  A  cup  of  one  pattern  set  in 
a  saucer  of  another  pattern  is  an  offence  to 
the  invalid's  eye,  and  to  let  a  person  suffering 
with  pain  put  to  his  lips  a  glass  with  a  piece 
chipped  out  of  the  edge  is  a  cruelty. 

In  the  service  offered  to  an  invalid  the  same 


102  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

is  true  as  of  all  other  service.  If  it  be  done 
by  rule  and  method,  as  if  by  the  working  of 
machinery  that  has  no  heart  in  it,  it  will  fall 
far  short  of  what  it  might  easily  be  made 
by  a  little  care  and  thoughtfulness.  If,  for 
instance,  a  chop — which  it  is  well  understood 
the  patient  must  eat  plain — be  served  with  a 
little  bunch  of  cress,  the  fresh  green  feeds  the 
eye,  and  the  invalid  is  conscious  that  thought 
has  been  given  to  her  pleasure  as  well  as  to 
her  needs.  A  whole  train  of  sad  and  weary 
thoughts  has  been  changed  by  one  cheerful 
yellow  pansy  hastily  dropped  on  a  tray  so  that 
it  lay  smiling  between  a  cup  and  a  cream  jug. 
A  waitress  who  cares  how  she  does  her 
work  in  the  sick-room  and  out  of  it  will  soon 
find  that  the  attention  she  gives  is  appreci- 
ated. It  will  not  be  long  before  china  closets 
which  have  been  locked  will  be  opened,  old 
glass  will  be  brought  out  for  occasional  use, 
and  great  pleasure  expressed  by  its  owners 
that  it  is  again  possible  to  have  it  handled 
without  fear  of  its  being  destroyed.     This 


IN  THE  INVALID'S  ROOM  103 

care  bestowed  upon  inanimate  things  is  one 
indication  of  a  truthful  character,  and  the 
waitress  will  find  herself  treated,  not  like  one 
who  must  be  watched  and  in  a  sense  suspect- 
ed, but  with  the  confidence  which  is  her  right, 
and  which  will  give  her  the  sense  of  being  an 
individual,  not  merely  part  of  the  household 
machinery. 

When  confidence  in  her  is  once  established 
there  are  many  ways  by  which  it  will  be  ex- 
pressed. She  will  be  asked  to  execute  little 
commissions  given  only  to  one  who  can  be 
thoroughly  relied  upon.  She  may  be  left  in 
charge  of  the  house,  with  the  direction  of  oth- 
er workers  under  her,  or  she  may  be  asked  to 
go  to  the  country-house  to  direct  and  assist 
in  its  arrangement  before  the  family  take  up 
their  summer  residence  there. 

All  this  will  give  variety  to  what  otherwise 
might  be  in  danger  of  becoming  a  trifle  mo- 
notonous ;  but  it  is  not  the  variety  which  is 
the  greatest  advantage.  It  is  the  fact  that  she 
is  not  a  mere  worker,  not  a  machine  which 


104  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

may  do  its  work  with  absolute  exactness,  nev- 
er losing  a  minute,  and  always  being  in  its 
own  place.  She  will  do  her  work  with  exact- 
ness, and  may  be  relied  upon  like  a  machine ; 
but  she  will  also  use  her  power  to  help,  to 
suggest,  and  to  put  in  motion  forces  outside 
of  herself  and  her  routine. 

When  the  best  relationship  has  been  estab- 
lished between  employers  and  those  who  are 
employed,  the  question  of  change  will  assume 
a  very  different  aspect.  Questions  which  or- 
dinarily make  an  end  of  any  contract  entered 
into  will  be  simply  the  subject  of  explana- 
tion, or  at  the  most  of  arbitration,  and  al- 
though others  may  come  and  go,  the  waitress 
will  stay  on  year  after  year. 

When  she  does  decide  to  go  she  will  leave 
with  regret  what  has  been  to  her  really  a 
home,  and,  on  the  part  of  her  employer,  the 
most  genuine  regret  will  be  felt  and  ex- 
pressed. Great  interest  will  be  taken  in  all 
that  concerns  her  future  welfare,  gifts  will  be 
prepared  by  each  member  of  the  household, 


IN  THE   INVALID'S  ROOM  105 

the  wedding  will  be  made  merry,  and  good 
wishes  will  follow  her  to  the  new  home,  where 
it  will  be  hoped  that  she  may  have  as  much 
comfort  as  she  has  given  to  others  during  her 
years  of  faithful  work  as  a  waitress. 

8 


Ututbf  ulness  in  tbe  XKIlaittes5 

A  WAITRESS  should  be  truthful  in  spirit,  as 
well  as  truthful  regarding  the  letter  of  her 
contract.  We  are  told  sometimes  that  this  is 
impossible;  that  it  is  necessary  to  tell  some 
falsehoods  in  order  to  secure  a  good  place,  or 
to  keep  one  after  being  in  it  for  a  time.  But 
this  is  not  so.  An  expert  waitress  need  never 
be  without  a  place,  and  she  need  never  stay  in 
a  place  for  lack  of  another  after  real  difficul- 
ties have  arisen  in  her  way. 

How  do  I  know  this  ?  Because  perfect  ser- 
vice never  goes  a-begging,  and  if  her  work  is 
perfect  there  will  always  be  a  demand  for  it. 
Think  of  our  servants  of  the  public — the  cler- 
gy and  the  doctors.  Does  a  minister  who  sat- 
isfies his  congregation  ever  lack  a  congrega- 
tion ?    Does  a  successful  doctor  have  to  drive 


TRUTHFULNESS  IN   THE   WAITRESS         107 

about  looking  for  patients  ?  We  know  very 
well  that  he  does  not ;  we  know  that  his  oflSce 
is  crowded  day  after  day.  How  did  he  come 
to  be  successful?  First  he  studied,  and  then 
he  practised,  and  when  he  began  to  practise 
he  found  that  there  were  many  things  which 
he  did  not  know.  Was  he  content  with  the 
knowledge  he  had  acquired  ?  By  no  means. 
He  studied  more,  and  put  the  new  knowledge 
into  practice.  How  did  he  gain  the  entire 
confidence  of  the  persons  he  serves  ?  By  do- 
ing well  what  he  professed  to  do,  and  by  being 
ready  for  any  emergency.  And  this  is  what  a 
waitress  must  do.  First  she  must  study,  then 
she  must  practise,  then  she  must  study  more 
and  practise  more,  and  she  must  be  equal  to 
emergencies. 

If  word  comes  to  a  doctor  that  a  child  has 
fallen  down -stairs  and  broken  its  arm,  does 
the  doctor  send  back  word  that  his  hours  are 
over  and  he  cannot  go  to  the  child?  And  if 
an  accident  happens  in  the  waitress's  depart- 
ment— if  a  piece  of  ceiling  falls,  for  instance. 


108  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

when  she  is  about  to  go  up  to  bed — will  she 
say  that  her  hours  are  over,  and  some  one  else 
must  clean  up  the  mortar  in  the  pantry  ?  If 
the  doctor  thinks  he  is  all  through  for  the 
evening  and  another  patient  comes  in,  will  he 
dismiss  the  late  comer  without  a  word  ?  And 
if,  after  a  table  is  all  laid,  an  extra  guest  comes 
in,  will  the  waitress  fail  to  lay  another  cover 
quietly  and  quickly  ? 

Yes,  many  will  say,  so  many  patients,  so 
much  money.  But  it  is  not  so.  The  per- 
sons who  take  up  a  doctor's  time  and  try  his 
patience  almost  beyond  words  are  often  those 
who  have  no  idea  of  the  value  of  his  time,  and 
who  have  no  money  to  pay  him  for  it. 

When  a  maid  calls  herself  a  waitress  she  is 
not  truthful  unless  she  has  studied  her  work 
until  she  is  familiar  with  it,  and  this  familiar- 
ity can  come  only  after  some  amount  of  prac- 
tice. 

Truthfulness  includes  honesty,  and  to  be 
honest  means  very  much  more  than  being 
above  taking  money  or  jewels  which  belong 


TRUTHFULNESS  IN  THE  WAITRESS         109 

to  others.  To  be  true  and  honest  in  spirit  is 
to  have  an  intelligent  care  of  whatever  is  put 
in  a  worker's  charge  and  which  belongs  to  her 
department.  It  is  not  honest  to  let  a  beauti- 
ful damask  cloth  with  a  little  rent  in  it  go  to 
the  laundress  without  first  reporting  the  rent 
to  the  owner  of  the  cloth.  It  is  not  honest  to 
let  a  fine  carver  rust  for  lack  of  attention  at 
the  proper  time.  It  is  not  true  that  no  gas  is 
wasted  when  a  gas  stove  is  left  partly  turned 
on  all  night  near  an  open  window. 

We  have  often  heard  that  time  is  money. 
Now  if  one  does  not  understand  her  work  as 
she  may  understand  it  if  she  will  study,  she 
is  constantly  taking  other  people's  time,  which 
we  are  told  is  other  people's  money. 

That  all  the  world  is  not  honest,  that  we 
are  not  always  treated  from  the  standpoint 
of  strictly  fair  dealing,  makes  no  difference 
to  her.  She  is  not  other  people,  she  is  her- 
self. 

Among  the  men  in  one  of  our  Eastern 
States  whose  business  it  is  to  lay  stone  walls 


110  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

is  one  who  has  an  especial  talent  for  the 
work.  Stones  of  any  shape  answer  his  pur- 
pose. He  does  not  ask  any  direction,  he  does 
not  have  to  make  any  measurements,  or  use 
any  stakes  or  a  line  to  lay  his  stones  by.  And 
in  the  whole  State  there  are  no  such  beauti- 
ful walls  as  this  man  lays.  Does  he  ever  have 
to  tell  a  falsehood  in  order  to  get  work  ?  Does 
he  ever  talk  about  other  persons  interfering 
with  him  ?  Or  does  he  need  to  care  what 
other  persons  think?  He  does  his  work  so 
much  better  than  other  men  that  it  will  al- 
ways be  sought.  And  although  he  has  a 
special  talent  for  it,  he  does  not  let  that  make 
him  careless.  His  is  true  work,  honest  work, 
and  so  long  as  he  keeps  his  health  and  there 
are  stone  walls  to  lay  he  need  never  rest  with 
idle  hands. 

With  regard  to  the  privileges  granted  to 
workers  it  is  not  easy  to  lay  down  any  set  of 
rules  that  will  meet  the  requirements  of  ev- 
ery household  in  the  land.  In  some  cities 
rules  are  in  force  to  which  the  majority  of 


TRUTHFULNESS  IN  THE   WAITRESS         HI 

families  conform,  and  they  seem  to  answer 
very  well.  But  the  needs  of  a  family  where 
there  are  little  children  differ  from  the  needs 
of  a  family  of  adults.  A  larger  number  in  a 
household  will  necessitate  arrangements  the 
need  of  which  does  not  exist  in  one  made  up 
of  a  few  members.  In  order  to  consult  the 
varied  tastes  and  arrange  for  the  comfort  of 
all,  special  hours  must  sometimes  be  consid- 
ered, and  it  is  not  wise  for  a  worker  to  start 
out  by  saying  that  she  must  have  such  and 
such  times  for  her  own.  The  time  offered 
by  the  existing  arrangements  may  be,  if  she 
will  stop  to  think,  much  better  for  her. 

It  is  important  to  comprehend  exactly  what 
is  promised,  so  that  there  may  be  no  mistake 
and  no  disappointment  on  either  side.  The 
time  stipulated  as  belonging  to  a  worker  is 
certainly  her  own  ;  the  rest  of  her  time  as 
certainly  belongs  to  the  person  to  whom  she 
has  agreed  to  give  it.  But  if  her  sister  were 
going  to  be  married,  a  girl  would  feel  very 
grieved  if  she  were  not  allowed  to  go  to  the 


112  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

wedding,  and  yet  there  was  nothing  said  about 
the  wedding  when  she  promised  her  time. 
Will  she  realize  the  equal  importance  of  the 
occasion  if  the  lady  of  the  house  is  obliged  to 
ask  her  to  give  up  one  of  her  evenings  be- 
cause of  some  especial  entertainment  ? 

There  is  very  little  doubt  about  her  secur- 
ing the  proper  privileges  with  regard  to  out- 
ings. Something  quite  as  important  is  that 
she  should  care  about  her  sleeping  accommo- 
dations. Ladies  say  that  again  and  again  they 
have  taken  pleasure  in  fitting  up  cosey  rooms 
for  the  maids  who  were  to  do  the  work  of  the 
household,  and  they  have  been  grievously  dis- 
appointed to  find  that  their  eflEorta  were  not  in 
the  least  appreciated.  No  care  was  taken  to 
preserve  order  and  neatness ;  in  fact,  careless- 
ness had  been  so  universal  that  they  had  lost 
all  heart  about  it.  "What  is  needed  is  plenty 
of  fresh  air,  with  an  opportunity  to  preserve 
thorough  cleanliness,  and  no  right-minded  lady 
will  fail  to  respect  a  maid  who  makes  a  point 
of  claiming  these  privileges. 


TRUTHFULNESS  OF  THE  WAITRESS   113 

Where  many  privileges  are  not  granted  one 
is  inclined  to  place  the  blame  no  more  upon 
the  employers  than  upon  the  employed,  for  I 
think  we  must  all  admit  that,  aside  from  some 
notable  exceptions,  waitresses  have  not  so  com- 
ported themselves  as  to  make  the  persons  they 
served  take  a  keen  interest  in  them. 

When  a  reform  is  attempted  there  are  al- 
ways some  rough  places  to  be  gotten  over  at 
first,  some  pioneer  work  to  be  done ;  but  it 
is  possible  for  a  new  order  of  waitresses  to 
raise  this  department  of  women's  work  to 
such  a  standard  of  excellence  that  there  will 
be  no  need  to  ask  for  privileges ;  they  will 
be  granted  without  the  asking. 


a&aptabtUts 

When  a  waitress  has  gone  into  a  home,  and 
has  made  a  contract  which  is  satisfactory  to 
herself  and  to  her  employer,  she  will  need  to 
adapt  herself  to  her  new  surroundings,  as  she 
must  not  expect  that  they  will  in  all  things 
adapt  themselves  to  her. 

The  first  thing  to  which  she  may  have  to 
adapt  herself  is  the  fact  that  she  is  not  looked 
upon  as  a  person  in  whom  one  can  repose  per- 
fect confidence.  But  she  must  remember  that 
waitresses  of  the  old  order  have  in  many  cases 
abused  their  position,  that  they  have  sent  too 
much  china  and  cut  glass  to  the  ash  barrel  for 
any  owner  of  such  valuable  articles  to  consider 
these  and  other  belongings  safe  in  new  hands. 

A  waitress  will,  if  possible,  go  into  a  new 
home  in  the  morning,  and  not  attempt  a  dinner 


ADAPTABILITY  115 

until  she  has  had  time  to  take  the  bearings  of 
dining-room  and  pantry.  While  she  is  serving 
luncheon,  and  is  going  back  and  forth  from 
the  pantry,  she  need  not  be  surprised  if  she 
hears  a  conversation  something  like  this : 

"  The  new  waitress  does  very  nicely,  mam- 
ma." 

"  Yes,  a  new  broom  sweeps  clean,  my  dear." 

"  But  she  looks  as  if  she  knew  how  to  work." 

"  She  may  know  how ;  but  I  suppose  she 

will  be  like  all  the  rest.     I  have  no  faith  in 

any  of  them  any  more." 

The  new  waitress  need  not  be  angry.  She 
need  not  be  even  enough  disturbed  to  let  the 
blood  rush  into  her  cheeks,  for  she  knows  that 
she  is  competent  and  she  can  afford  to  bide 
her  time. 

She  will  make  some  haste  with  the  luncheon 
dishes,  for  there  is  an  important  piece  of  work 
to  be  done  before  dinner.  She  will  take  out 
her  memorandum-book,  with  its  nicely  sharp- 
ened pencil,  and  begin  to  make  a  list  of  all 
chipped  china  and  glass  and  of  all  silver  that 


116  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

is  marred.  The  lady  of  the  house  will  be  ex- 
pecting questions,  and  should  be  asked  to  make 
this  possible  by  showing  where  all  pieces  are 
kept  which  she  wishes  to  have  used.  If  ob- 
jection be  made,  it  is  only  necessary  to  say 
modestly  but  firmly  that  a  contract  which 
holds  one  responsible  for  all  breakage  makes 
it  necessary  that  such  a  list  should  be  made. 
The  truth  of  this  will  at  once  be  apparent  and 
full  opportunity  given. 

When  finished,  a  copy  of  the  list  should  be 
taken  to  the  lady  of  the  house,  that  she  may 
compare  it  with  the  original  and  so  avoid  any 
mistake. 

Next  to  making  a  list  of  the  dishes  should 
come  a  thorough  study  of  the  pantry.  This 
it  will  not  be  possible  to  make  all  in  one  day. 
The  new  waitress  will  not  be  discouraged  by 
anything  that  may  be  in  the  pantry,  for  what 
seems  a  defect  the  first  day  may  prove 
a  merit  the  next.  Some  things  cannot  be 
changed.  The  window,  the  sink,  the  shelves 
for  dishes,  are  fixtures,  and  these  are  some  of 


ADAPTABILITY  11 7 

the  things  to  which  she  must  adapt  herself. 
There  are  other  things  which  may  be  made  to 
adapt  themselves  to  the  new-comer. 

When  she  finds  something  which  she  would 
like  to  have  changed  she  should  make  a  note 
of  it,  and  not  feel  sure  that  she  is  right  until 
she  has  tested  it  well.  She  should  go  on  mak- 
ing notes  until  she  has  put  down  everything 
which  in  her  judgment  seems  necessary.  Tlie 
list  should  then  be  well  studied,  and  anything 
which  cannot  be  remedied  should  be  crossed 
off. 

When  she  has  been  in  the  house  long  enough 
to  know  whether  she  is  likely  to  please ;  when 
she  has  at  least  shown  that  she  understands 
her  business,  she  will  show  the  list  to  her  em- 
ployer and  tell  her  what  things  she  would  like 
to  have  in  order  to  make  her  work  more  con- 
venient. Possibly  a  lady  may  consider  her 
pantry  already  perfect  and  be  annoyed  by  any 
suggestion ;  but  it  is  more  than  likely  that  she 
will  be  gratified  to  find  that  she  has  some  one 
in  her  employ  who  really  cares  how  and  by 


118  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

what  means  the  work  is  done.  She  will  prob- 
ably say  that  she  is  glad  to  see  such  a  list : 
that  the  articles  asked  for  she  was  careful  to 
provide  when  she  began  her  house-keeping,  but 
she  found  they  were  neglected,  broken,  or 
thrown  away.  The  list  would  probably  be 
something  like  this : 

Neat  brass  hooks  for  fresh  white  apron, 
brooms,  and  dusters. 

Three  new  hand  towels. 

Zinc  dish  drainer. 

Small  towel  rack. 

Lamp  in  bracket,  to  throw  light  on  dishes 
to  be  washed  in  the  evening. 

Two  dozen  towels  for  glass  and  fine  china. 

Two  new  salad  cloths. 

If  the  lady  be  a  busy  person  she  may  imag- 
ine that  some  of  these  requests  are  unnecessary 
and  therefore  unreasonable ;  but  she  will  go 
into  the  pantry  to  see  what  is  already  there. 
She  will  not  be  surprised  to  find  her  salad 
cloths  with  the  silver  cleaning  materials,  for 
she  has  had  too  much  experience  to  be  sur- 


ADAPTABILITY  119 

prised  at  anything.  She  will  sort  out  the  hand 
towels  from  the  lamp  cloths,  and  see  that  she 
needs  new  towels  for  silver  and  china.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  the  rack,  the 
hook,  and  the  drainer  will  be  promised,  al- 
though no  time  may  be  set  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  promise. 

Now  is  the  opportunity  to  prove  that  real 
thought  has  been  given  to  the  matter.  The 
waitress  should  be  ready  to  say,  "'  To  -  morrow 
will  be  my  afternoon  out.  If  you  like  I  will 
get  the  hooks;  they  will  cost  so  many  cents 
apiece.  Where  I  get  those  I  can  get  a  small 
towel  rack  for  so  much.  I  have  measured  the 
sink  and  find  that  the  drainer  needs  to  be  so 
long  and  so  wide,  and  I  know  that  the  plumber 
three  blocks  away  will  make  it  for  so  much. 
The  amounts  will  be  so  small,  while  the  conven- 
ience will  be  so  apparent,  that  she  will  probably 
be  commissioned  to  get  them  at  once.  She 
must  be  sure  of  her  prices  and  in  no  case  must 
she  exceed  them.  She  must  not  ask  for  one 
thing  on  one  day  and  another  thing  on  another 


120  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

day.  All  requests  should  be  made  at  one  time, 
and  nothing  further  asked  for  until  it  becomes 
absolutely  necessary. 

When  she  has  adapted  herself  to  her  pantry 
and  her  pantry  to  herself,  so  that  she  can  do 
her  work  in  the  best  possible  manner,  she  may 
turn  her  attention  more  entirely  to  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  family  which  she  has  agreed  to 
serve,  for  it  goes  without  saying  that  they 
have  their  peculiarities  just  as  she  has  her  own. 
For  instance,  we  will  suppose  that  one  of  the 
gentlemen  always  wishes  butter  at  dinner,  no 
matter  how  many  sauces  have  been  provided. 
Half  of  the  time  he  does  not  touch  it ;  but  he 
wishes  it  there.  She  cannot  change  that  any 
more  than  she  can  make  the  near-sighted  lady 
see  by  taking  away  her  glasses.  What  she  is 
to  do  is  never  to  forget  that  butter.  Some 
persons  have  a  habit  of  saying,  "No,  thank 
you,"  when  a  dish  is  offered,  and  asking  for  it 
the  moment  it  has  been  set  down.  She  can 
soon  determine  if  any  one  who  does  this  is  at 
the  table  and  need  not  be  "  upset "  by  the  re- 


ADAPTABILITY  121 

quest.  If  she  can  learn  to  make  a  bit  of  a 
pause  at  the  plate — not  disrespectfully,  but  by 
way  of  suggestion  that  some  of  the  dish  may 
be  cared  for  —  she  will  soon  have  no  trouble. 
In  every  household  there  are  some  things 
that  will  puzzle  an  ignorant  girl  and  some 
that  may  puzzle  even  a  competent,  well-trained 
waitress;  but  study  and  careful  thought  will 
make  her  find  the  best  way  to  promote  the 
general  comfort  and  keep  each  person  at  table 
happy  and  serene. 


B  Servant's  Contract 

One  reason  of  the  lack  of  confidence  which 
exists  between  mistress  and  maid  is  the  con- 
stant change  which  takes  place  between  the 
employers  and  the  employed.  If  a  remedy  is 
to  be  found  for  this — and  a  remedy  must  be 
found — it  will  be  necessary  to  know  the  reason 
why,  with  some  exceptions,  maids  are  seeking 
good  places,  and  good  places  are  waiting  for 
the  right  maids  to  come  and  fill  them. 

Without  doubt  the  chief  reason  is  the  lack 
of  a  clear  understanding  between  mistress  and 
maid  at  the  beginning  of  an  engagement. 
Promises  are  made  very  much  at  hap-hazard, 
and  a  contract  entered  into,  the  conditions  of 
which  are  not  fully  understood  by  either  side. 
To  avoid  mistakes  it  is  necessary  first  to  un- 
derstand the  meaning  of  a  contract. 


A  SERVANT'S  CONTRACT  123 

A  contract  is  an  agreement  between  two  or 
more  persons  by  which  something  is  promised 
on  one  side  in  return  for  something  promised 
by  the  other  side.  A  contract  is  just  as  bind- 
ing upon  one  party  as  upon  the  other.  It  is 
not  something  to  be  kept  on  one  side,  while  it 
lets  the  other  go  free  of  responsibility.  If 
responsibility  be  shirked  by  one  party,  then 
the  other  is  at  liberty  to  consider  the  contract 
broken,  and  decline  to  keep  his  part  of  it. 
For  instance,  a  carpenter  agrees  to  build  a 
house  for  a  certain  sum  of  money.  If  he  fails 
to  build  the  house,  the  man  for  whom  he 
agreed  to  build  it  does  not  feel  bound  to  pay 
him  anything  for  promising  to  build  it.  If  a 
caterer  agrees  to  furnish  refreshments  for  an 
evening  entertainment,  and  fails  to  send  them, 
the  person  who  had  given  the  order  would 
certainly  not  feel  obliged  to  pay  the  bill,  if 
presented. 

In  the  case  we  are  considering  the  contract 
is  between  two  persons.  It  is  an  agreement 
by  which  a  certain  amount  of  service  of  a 


124  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

specified  kind  is  promised  for  a  stipulated  sum 
of  money  and  a  home. 

Every  maid  who  goes  into  a  home  says  that 
she  will  do  certain  things,  and  that  she  will  do 
them  well.  She  claims  that  she  knows  how  to 
do  and  will  do  her  work  in  the  best  manner. 
On  this  understanding  she  is  employed,  and  is 
promised  a  certain  sum  of  money  in  addition 
to  her  bed  and  her  board.  Often  a  few  days 
prove  that  there  has  been  a  mistake.  In  the 
first  place,  she  does  not  know  how  to  do  her 
work  in  a  first-class  manner,  and  in  the  second 
place  she  does  not  try  to  do  it  well.  Her  em- 
ployer talks  with  her  about  it,  tries  to  show 
her  better  ways,  begs  her  not  to  be  careless,  all 
to  no  purpose.  After  a  fair  trial  she  is  told 
that  she  will  not  answer  the  requirements  of 
the  place.  Does  it  ever  occur  to  her  to  take 
less  than  the  stipulated  wages  ?  By  no  means. 
She  has  not  at  all  come  up  to  the  promises  of 
her  agreement;  or,  in  other  words,  she  has 
broken  her  contract.  This  would  certainly 
justify  the  party  on  the  other  side  in  breaking 


A  SERVANT'S  CONTRACT  125 

hers  to  the  extent  of  paying  only  for  the  kind 
of  work  that  has  been  given,  instead  of  paying 
for  the  first-class  work  that  was  promised. 
But  ladies  do  not  like  to  be  called  mean,  and 
they  pay  out  their  money  knowing  that  they 
have  not  received  the  value  of  it. 

In  order  for  a  waitress  to  know  whether 
she  has  fulfilled  her  part  of  a  contract,  and 
whether  the  blame  rests  with  her,  she  will 
need  to  understand  very  fully  what  she  has 
contracted  to  do. 

Most  important  of  all  in  this  connection  is 
the  promise  not  to  abuse  the  china  and  silver. 
We  all  know  more  or  less  about  the  china 
craze  —  the  collecting  of  pieces  of  old  china, 
some  of  it  not  so  fine  as  may  be  bought  in  the 
shops  to-day,  but  old.  This  old  china  has 
passed  through  a  great  many  hands,  and  been 
washed  a  great  many  times.  Some  of  it  has 
passed  from  pantry  to  pantry,  as  it  became  the 
possession  of  one  family  after  another,  and  a 
great  deal  of  it  is  neither  broken,  cracked,  nor 
chipped.      This  proves  that  somebody,  or  a 


126  THE  EXPERT  WAITRESS 

good  many  somebodies,  must  have  known  how 
to  wash  china  without  injuring  it  in  any  way, 
and  what  has  been  done  in  this  way  may  be 
done  again.  It  will  not  be  done  by  ignorant 
girls  who  have  no  idea  of  learning  the  best 
ways ;  but  it  will  be  done  by  the  many  who 
are  anxious  to  do  always  what  is  right,  even  at 
some  inconvenience  to  themselves. 

Superstition  must  be  gotten  rid  of  in  the 
beginning.  Some  persons  say,  "  There !  I 
have  broken  that ;  now  I  must  break  three 
things  before  I  can  stop ;"  or,  "  Now  I  have 
begun  to  break,  there  is  no  telling  when  I  can 
stop,"  as  if  they  were  not  responsible  for  the 
damage  done.  For  this  there  is  one  sure 
remedy,  and  possibly  one  only,  which  has  been 
tried  in  a  number  of  cases,  and  always  with 
success.  The  person  who  breaks  china  or  de- 
faces silver  must,  so  far  as  is  possible,  repair 
from  her  own  purse  the  damage  done. 

But  accidents?  Yes,  once  in  a  lifetime  a 
dumb-waiter  breaks  down,  a  cleat  under  a  shelf 
gives  way,  or  a  child  runs  against  a  door  and 


A  SERYANT'S  CONTRACT  127 

knocks  a  tray  full  of  dishes  out  of  a  steady 
hand.  All  these  are  accidents.  There  is  no 
question  about  them:  they  could  not  have 
been  helped.  When  anything  cannot  be  pro- 
vided against  it  may  be  called  an  accident; 
when  it  happens  from  lack  of  foresight  it 
may  be  called  carelessness. 

One  point  to  be  considered  is  that  the  arti- 
cles which  a  maid  destroys  are  often  too  valu- 
able for  her  to  replace.  Even  if  she  has  the 
willingness,  she  has  not  the  money  to  buy 
pieces  of  equal  value.  All  the  more  should 
she  provide  herself  with  all  possible  safeguards 
against  the  destruction  of  other  persons'  prop- 
erty. A  contract  might  be  entered  into  which 
would  be  something  like  this :  A  certain  sum  . 
of  money  is  promised  to  a  waitress  in  return 
for  work  performed  in  an  acceptable  manner. 
If  at  the  end  of  each  month  no  china,  glass, 
or  silver  is  broken  or  defaced,  then  one-fifth 
or  one -quarter  of  the  sum  promised  is  to  be 
added  to  the  original  amount.  If  pieces  are 
broken  or  marred,  then  the  extra  dollars  are 


128  THE  EXPERT   WAITRESS 

to  go  towards  replacing  what  has  been  spoiled. 
That  is,  if  the  maid  keeps  her  contract  by 
doing  her  work  in  the  manner  she  has  prom- 
ised, she  will  be  paid  for  good  work  and  care- 
ful management.  If  she  breaks  her  contract 
by  carelessness  and  heedless  handling,  there  is 
some  slight  provision  made  against  the  damage 
done. 

When  the  idea  is  once  grasped  that  a  con- 
tract is  not  a  one-sided  affair,  when  a  maid 
realizes  that  she  is  as  much  bound  by  it  as  her 
employer,  then  she  will  think  before  she  prom- 
ises, and  she  will  not  undertake  more  than  she 
has  capacity  and  training  to  perform.  Then  she 
will  not  expect  to  be  paid  for  what  she  has  not 
done,  and  she  will  have  too  much  self-respect 
to  accept  wages  which  she  has  not  earned. 

Another  thing  which  will  not  fail  to  be  dis- 
cussed by  reformers  of  this  branch  of  house- 
hold service  which  we  are  considering  is  the 
question  of  tips  and  souvenirs.  We  are  told 
that  the  reason  why  the  system  of  tips  pre- 
vails on  railway  trains  and  in  hotels  is  because 


A  SERVANT'S  CONTRACT  129 

the  wages  of  the  employes  are  not  sufficient 
for  their  support.  This  is  not  true  of  all  these 
workers ;  and  if  it  be  true  of  some,  it  need  not 
be  true  of  the  household.  A  really  good  wait- 
ress can  always  command  a  proper  return  for 
her  services.  If  she  has  brains  enough  to 
become  a  model  waitress  she  will  have  sense 
enough  to  know  what  her  services  are  worth, 
and  her  demands  will  be  gladly  acceded  to 
when  she  has  proved  that  her  work  is  worth 
the  price  which  she  has  placed  upon  it.  This 
point  being  settled,  she  will  be  satisfied  with 
the  stated  amount,  and  bend  her  mind  to  her 
work  without  any  idea  of  attracting  the  favor 
of,  or  receiving  tips  from,  any  member  or  guest 
of  the  household.  How  else  can  she  preserve 
her  self-respect  ? 

Souvenirs  are  not  tips,  and  may  be  consid- 
ered. The  new  order  of  waitresses  will  so 
conduct  themselves  that  after  a  time  no  one 
will  think  of  offering,  them  tips ;  but  there 
are  occasions  when  souvenirs  are  quite  suitable, 
and  may  be  accepted  with  perfect  propriety. 


130  THE   EXPERT   WAITRESS 

Suppose  that  preparations  are  made  some 
morning  for  a  child's  party  to  take  place  in 
the  afternoon.  A  little  guest  confides  to  the 
waitress  that  she  is  going  to  wear  her  sweet 
white  dress  that  was  finished  just  before  she 
left  home.  She  begs  her  nurse  to  show  it, 
and  the  nurse  goes  to  a  trunk  to  take  it  out. 
Alas  for  the  child's  hopes !  The  sash,  which 
is  an  important  part  of  the  dress,  is  hopelessly 
crushed,  so  that  it  is  not  fit  to  wear.  Nurse 
is  too  busy  to  freshen  it  up;  another  dress 
must  answer.  The  waitress  may  not  half  com- 
prehend what  a  terrible  disappointment  this 
is  to  the  child,  yet  she  carries  away  the  sash, 
and,  long  before  time  for  the  party,  brings  it 
back  as  smooth  and  fresh  as  it  was  in  the  be- 
ginning. 

When  the  mamma  returns  she  listens  to  a 
wonderful  tale  of  distress  and  joy,  and  it 
means  far  more  to  her  than  to  the  child. 
When  she  is  about  to  leave  the  house,  if  she 
wishes  to  show  that  she  remembers  how 
thoughtful  the  waitress  had  been,  and  oflEers 


A  SERVANT'S  CONTRACT  131 

her  some  pretty  gift,  there  is  no  reason  in  the 
world  why  she  should  not  accept  it  with 
pleasure. 

If  old  people  are  among  the  guests,  there 
are  many  little  things  outside  the  line  of  pre- 
scribed duties  which  may  sometimes  be  done 
for  them.  Elderly  persons  are  so  grateful  to 
those  who  see  and  remember  their  especial 
needs  and  wishes  that  it  seems  quite  natural 
and  proper  that  they  should  oflEer  gifts  to  those 
who  are  thoughtful  for  them. 

But  the  things  I  speak  of  are  those  which  a 
true  waitress  will  do  wherever  she  is  placed. 
She  will  do  them  for  a  person  without  money 
as  quickly  as  for  one  who  has  money.  She 
will  do  them  not  because  she  is  a  waitress,  but 
because  she  is  a  woman  —  a  woman  with  a 
warm  heart  and  a  willing  hand. 


THE  END 


NOTES 


Page  3.  Instead  of  the  trays  mentioned  in  the  first 
edition  of  The  Expert  Waitress,  mats  of  asbestos  are 
now  used  with  slip  covers  of  linen,  simply  made  and 
easily  laundered,  and  over  these  lace,  linen,  or  cro- 
cheted mats,  as  simple  or  elaborate  as  one  chooses. 

A  sheet  of  asbestos  on  the  side-table  also,  with  its 
slip  cover  of  linen,  is  better  than  the  heavy  Canton 
flannel  formerly  used. 

Trays  of  wood,  silver,  or  other  metal,  though  of 
good  form,  are  not  essential  for  the  coffee  or  tea  service 
at  the  head  of  the  table.  These  may  be  arranged  on 
a  handsome  tray -cloth  or  on  mats,  if  preferred.  Large 
fancy  spoons  may  take  the  place  of  the  tablespoon  for 
serving  cereal  as  well  as  dessert. 

Page  16.  If  carafes  are  used,  four  should  be  enough 
on  a  table  seating  twelve  persons. 

Page  17.  A  loaf  of  bread  served  on  a  wooden  bread- 
board and  sliced  by  some  one  at  the  table  is  a  goodly 
fashion  of  olden  times  still  preserved  in  some  families; 
it  insures  freshness  of  the  slice,  and  is  not  wasteful. 

Page  19.  The  old  fashion  of  removing  on  a  tray  the 
silver  and  knives  from  platter  or  plates  is  rarely  fol- 
lowed now.  The  platter  with  its  carvers  laid  straight 
is  first  removed.  Then,  if  any  vegetable  dishes  have 
been  on  the  dining-table,  they  are  taken  with  their 
spoons  in  them,  then  the  plates. 

Page  59.  To  polish  furniture  a  mixture  of  one-third 
"grain"  alcohol  (not  wood  nor  denatured  alcohol)  and 
two-thirds  olive-oil  will  be  found  more  satisfactory  than 
oil  and  turpentine.  Antique  carved  woods  may  be 
brushed  very  clean  with  a  small  painter's  brush,  and 


134  NOTES 

then  with  another  brush  saturated  with  kerosene,  or 
the  alcohol  and  olive-oil  may  be  applied  if  the  wood 
will  absorb  it  without  remaining  sticky.  Hardwood 
floors  that  have  been  at  first  treated  only  with  beeswax 
dissolved  in  turpentine  should  have  that  mixture  and 
not  crude  oil  applied  to  freshen  them.  Cheese-cloth  is 
considered  by  many  to  be  better  than  flannel  for  clean- 
ing and  polishing.  Turpentine  used  alone  will  clean 
the  floors  on  which  little  black  lumps  of  wax  may  have 
formed  because  the  mixture  was  too  thick  when  ap- 
plied. Silicon  is  more  apt  to  scratch  silver  than  is  the 
French  whiting  which  our  grandmothers  used.  Soften 
with  '*  grain  "  alcohol  or  water,  or  weak  ammonia  and 
water.     Wood  alcohol  should  never  be  used  on  metal. 

To  clean  Benares  brass  use  only  cream  of  tartar  made 
into  a  paste  with  lemon- juice. 

Wash  the  article  to  be  cleaned,  cover  with  the  paste, 
let  remain  not  more  than  five  minutes,  because  the 
acids  injure  antique  Benares  brass. 

Wash  thoroughly  with  clean  warm  water  and  a  soft 
brush,  dry  carefully  with  soft  chamois  skin  or  cheese- 
cloth. 

Page  68.  A  steak  may  be  carved  either  at  right 
angles  to  or  parallel  with  its  bone,  as  preferred;  and  if 
the  latter  way  be  chosen,  the  bone  should  not  first  be 
separated  from  the  meat. 

Page  70.  A  turkey  or  other  fowl,  of  which  not  all  is 
to  be  served  at  one  meal,  may  have  one  side  entirely 
served  before  leg  or  wing  be  cut  from  the  other,  thus 
leavipg  a  complete  half  to  be  served  cold. 


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OVERDUE. 


SEP  27 

OCT  19  1934 
OCT  23  ^^^^ 


JAfi  191954  W 


19^3;.  ciR.   FEB  1  3  1979 


2?0cV55jp 

0CT131S5. 

ZSJHfWSB 
RECD  UD 

JU1.2V64-5PW 

FEB  2  3  1379 


WAR2  7^00« 


LD  21-50?n-8,32 


/U     ...  Y A  08176 


^ 


238891 


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